Life by Gang Rules
by Fae 206
Summary: Twenty-year-old Kyoko Mogami is said to be Japan's actress and she just got engaged to legendary actor, Ren Tsuruga. However, when her father reappears in her life, he is not the man Saena described him as. When Kyoko learns that he is a high ranking member of the Yakuza how will this affect her? And why is he trying to destroy her's and Saena's happiness starting with their loves?
1. Chapter 1 - Where I Met You

_My father was a coward who stole work files from my mother to win a case for his side. That is what I was told to believe. However, in those twenty years something changed in him. Something that I wasn't expecting._

 **Life by Gang Rules**

 **Chapter One – Where I met you**

Kyoko Mogami was a twenty-year-old super celebrity. She had become an actress at age sixteen when she had both played the role of a mascot for a successful talk show and when she had appeared in a commercial. She had acted in some of the best dramas starting with Dark Moon. She belonged to the best agency in Japan. When she was eighteen, she publicly started dating Ren Tsuruga who she had actually been dating for two months prior and she knew a secret about him that the world still didn't know.

He was Kuon Hizuri, son of Kuu and Julienna Hizuri, and one of the best people that Kyoko had ever met in her life.

Tonight was no different.

Kuon had always been sweet to her, he had always presented her with gifts which she treasured. His first gift, that beautiful stone, was one of the most important things she owned. For over two years the two had been dating and she had always felt safe and happy beside him.

He had given up America for her. He had put his dreams on hold because of his "new dream" which turned out to be here. She was never more thankful to a person than to him. He was a gorgeous half American, quarter Japanese, and quarter Russian man who treasured her like a princess.

Tonight Kuon had taken it a step further and during their trip down to Kyoto, he had told her that he was going to meet her in the woods where they had found one another as children. She didn't know why he had to go first but maybe it was to recreate that moment.

As she walked the familiar trail, Kyoko couldn't help but notice the flowers that were scattered around and the lights that had been hung onto trees. She saw rose petals in different colors on the ground and her heart beat quickened as she saw there were beautiful colored stones on either side of the pathway.

Only Kuon could create magic like this.

Kyoko felt the tears in her eyes and then she paused where the lights were bright and right in front of her stood Kuon dressed up in a black suit with white shirt. He smiled to her as she arrived and then got down on one knee in front of her. Kyoko brought a hand up to her mouth as she tried not to cry.

"Kyoko Mogami," Kuon said as he looked at her and Kyoko stood with a hand on her heart and the other covering her mouth. "You are my ideal woman. You are so brave and strong that I feel stronger with you. You have such kindness and warmth in your heart that you keep _me_ warm and you make me feel that there is nobody more gentle, more amazing, more passionate than you. You match me as an actor. You make it so that I am fearless, so that I have something to fight for. I have never known love the way that I love you. It doesn't matter what the media says about us because I know that we have one another. I love you unconditionally. I love you with my entire heart, my entire being. I love you in ways I never thought that I could love somebody. So, I ask you now, out of unconditional love, out of the knowledge that I will remain loyal to you and that I won't leave you, out of all that being Ren…being Kuon Hizuri is. I ask you if you would do me the honor by becoming my wife and allowing me to become your husband."

Kyoko's eyes widened as she saw the ring. It was gorgeous. There were gold and jade gems around the outside but in the middle there was a pink gem that turned red in the right light. Kyoko looked at it and couldn't help the sobs that left her body.

"Yes," she nodded as she looked at him without fear. "Yes, Kuon. Of course. Yes, I want to be your wife," she said to him without any hesitation. He stood and walked over to her. He took her hand gently and then slipped the ring on as she tried to hold back the tears.

Once it was on, Kyoko brought her hand up to look at her engagement ring. She was _engaged_ to her fairytale prince, to the one man who had been her first mutual love. She threw her arms around his shoulders and as he lifted her she kissed him passionately.

"I have one favor," she said as their lips parted and Kuon smiled at her with his blinding smile.

"Sure," he nodded.

"I want to marry Kuon Hizuri not Ren Tsuruga," she told him.

Kuon nodded and smiled back as Kyoko gazed upon him, her future husband. She had never felt this way about anyone before and she was so lucky to have him. She laughed as she looked at the ring again.

"Kuon, thank you," she said as she took his hand and looked around at the lights. "Can we just stay here for a little bit?" she asked as she saw the lake, the place where he had flown for her, the hamburger and egg shaped rocks she had 'prepared' for him. She felt her heart melt as Kuon led her over to a blanket and sat down on it. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his chest, ending the motion with a passionate kiss to her lips.

"Thank you, princess," he said and Kyoko let her head rest against his warm chest.

"I can't believe I get to be Mrs. Kyoko Hizuri," she said as Kuon cuddled her close.

"I'm really the luckiest guy in the world," he said as he placed soft kisses to his head and they watched the reflection of the moonlight along the lake.

….

….

An hour later, the two were headed back towards the Fuwa's inn. Kuon had always been hesitant to stay here because of his rivalry with their son. He had expected the family to dislike him in the same way that Sho did, but they had always been kind and welcoming to him. They had always treated him with respect because of how much he loved and cared for Kyoko. Their love for her, which was so obvious, was shared with him and he had understood why this was a home for her.

Kuon had a bag with the lights in in his hand because Kyoko had told him how she hadn't wanted to leave them up when there could be a fire or a safety hazard. At first she had decided that she was going to get all of them down, but he had asked her to sit whilst he did it.

Kyoko kept admiring her engagement ring as they walked to the inn together. "Please let me get you a ring?" she asked as he smiled at her.

"You don't have to," he told her, "If there's something that you'd prefer for yourse-"

"No. I want to get you a ring…Ren," Kyoko smiled as they came to the entrance of the inn. She opened the door and smiled before looking at the front desk. She blinked as she saw an envelope on the counter at the entrance. Sometimes mail would get delivered here which wasn't for any of the guests. It was just a random occurance and Mrs. Fuwa would sometimes go to the local post office to try to track down who it was.

Kyoko was about to leave it when she saw that there wasn't an address on it, her eyes widened as she picked it up and showed it to her fiancé. Wow, that word made her feel incredibly special and blessed. However, the words on the envelope scared her as they were written in hand.

 _Hizuri Kuon_

 **End of Chapter One**

 **Well, I hope you guys liked it, reviews are always appreciated**

 **AN:** I don't know if anyone noticed it, but I've started to become obsessed with reviews again and this displeases me. I like writing because I want to write stories. I don't want to worry about the reviews though they do guide me in what people want to see and if there's an idea I use I always credit it.

For this reason, I am turning review alerts off (but I will read when ready to update the next chapter) and working on a smaller selection of stories. If this fic grabs attention and/or reviews then I will continue it more quickly.

The following are the limited fics that I've decided to work on:

The Little Prince (Monday updates)  
Alive, If Love Was a Memory, It's Just Like Magic, More Like a Phoenix, Secrets

When I feel better I will expand on the number but I really need to put some on pause. I like this one though so I'll continue if there's interest.


	2. Chapter 2 - Who You Are

**AN:** Trigger warning for gun violence. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Two : Who You Are**

 _My child, watch out because of the dangers of the world. Some people are not who they appear to be._

Those were the words that were inside the envelope and they were baffling to the couple especially since the paper was wrapped around four shots of Kuon shortly after Rick's death. He looked crazed and falling apart and Kyoko could understand why he had been sent to Japan. This wasn't the man that she had fallen in love with but she wasn't going to judge his past. He had changed and that's all that mattered.

"Do you think that he _did_ send this? I mean, who else would have these photographs?" Kyoko asked as Kuon tried to control his anger.

Had this person intentionally wanted to ruin this particular night?

"Kuu wouldn't do this, trust me, he wouldn't." Kuon said as he looked down, he shook his head. "Unless he was in an accident where he whacked his head against something that changed his personality, this isn't something that he'd do. The handwriting isn't his either."

"Who else would write this?" Kyoko asked, "It doesn't match Fuwa-san's writing either and I don't think they know who you really are, they wouldn't have any means or any reason to get these photographs," she thought to herself. "Neither would Taisho and Okami-san. I mean, this isn't something the president would do, is it?"

Kuon looked down, "I think there's more chance of Boss doing it than Kuu but he wouldn't have done it this way. He cares about both of us. He wouldn't want to risk his good deed and the fact that he's kept this secret for years. Besides, I first remember meeting him when I was three but I've seen pictures of him holding me when I was only a couple of months old."

Kyoko nodded, "I think I'm going to call him."

"You should make it now if you're going to call him. He's most likely up and watching one of those romance shows of his. He could have access to these pictures but I don't think he'd send a letter that could be open exposing all of this. He'd take you to his office at least," Kuon said but Kyoko shook her head.

"Not him," she replied but before Kuon could stop her, she had picked up her phone and dialed the international number. She placed the phone on speaker.

It took a few rings but the phone was picked up. "[Hello,]" a sleepy woman said in English, it was too early in the morning for Julie to remember to check caller ID. "[This is Julie Hizuri. How can I help you?]"

Kuon turned back to his fiancée, "I can't believe you called them," he whispered as he hoped that his voice wouldn't carry. No such luck.

"Ren-san?" Julie asked, the excitement in her voice, "Am I speaking to you, Kyoko?" she asked and both of the younger couple could picture that smile on her face.

"Yes, is Father around?" she inquired.

"I'll tell you if you let Ren-san say hello to me," Julie said in a childish manner, "and that you tell me how the two of you are."

"Hello, Julie. It's nice to hear your voice," he shot Kyoko a look to ask her what she was doing. He still acted like a stranger to them but because Kyoko's relationship with Kuu had been put in magazines, it was safe to have contact with them through his partner. "We do have some news though,"

"What's that Ren-san?" Julie asked with a breath of relief as if she had been worried about him since the last time they had spoken.

"Kuon proposed to me and I accepted," Kyoko said excitedly as Kuon sat down on the chair. He heard the loud excitement of his mother over the phone. "He also promised me that I'd be able to marry Kuon instead of Ren." There was another scream of excitement and Kuon closed his eyes.

"Yes, she's marrying Kuon," he said and Julie smiled.

"Congratulations!" she said happily, "The two of you are so good together and I hope that I'll be invited to the -"

"Of course I will invite the two of you to my wedding. It's only fair that you get to attend the important events of my life _after_ I'm Kuon," Kuon sighed as he ran his fingers through his brown hair. Maybe Jelly would stop talking about him going bald afterwards. "It's important that we talk to Kuu-sama, is that…okay."

"She could have sent it, Kuon" Kyoko tried to whisper and Kuon sighed and looked up.

"She would not have sent that," he said as he looked down. He also knew that his father hadn't sent it. The my child must have been someone attempting to be creepy.

"I could have sent it," Julie protested as Kuon's jaw dropped and he shook his head to Kyoko.

"You sent me and my fiancée pictures of Kuon Hizuri when he was fifteen and a note to tell her to stay away from him?" Kuon asked and Julie gasped.

"No, I didn't…I didn't send that. I don't know how they….are the two of you okay. You're not hurt, right Ku—Ren?" Julie said as her voice became louder and Kuon knew that she was pressing the phone to her ear.

"We're fine, but I'd like to talk to Father," Kyoko told her and Julie and Kuon both spoke at once.

"Kuu would never send that," they said weakly.

"I'd still like to ask him if he knows anything," Kyoko said and Kuon shook his head as he looked at her. He didn't know why she was so insistent on knowing whether his father had any involvement in this.

"Hold on then," Julie said as there was a click of her turning on the speaker phone. There was silence for a moment and then the two of them could hear Kuon's parents on the other side.

"Hi, I have the two of you here, right?" he asked.

Kuon sighed, "Yes, the two of us are here," he said as he looked back at Kyoko. "Before we start, I think I should be the one to tell you that Kyoko and I are engaged," he said as he heard Kuu's happy laugh. He smiled as he looked down. Despite the circumstances, it did feel good to know he made his parents happy.

"Congratulations," Kuu said in a strong voice, "I'm so happy that my sons are…"

"Father, did you send us photographs of Kuon when he was fifteen and a letter telling me to stay away from him?" Kyoko asked as she cut off the older man.

"No." Kuu said and Kuon knew how much this caught him off guard. "No. Kuon is very precious to me and I couldn't think of a better man for you to marry but you should tell Boss right away. Ren, you're okay, right? There hasn't been any dangerous occurances around you, has there?"

"I'm alright," Kuon said as he knew how worried they had just made his parents. "I kept trying to persuade her that you didn't send that."

"Never," Kuu said quickly, "No. Kuon's changed so much since then but I know he's told you about his past. I would never do that to Kuon. Ren, you need to tell the president _immediately_. I know you think you're tough and you can cope with this. I know how skillful you are and how you're able to protect yourself, but you need to inform him of this. Promise me that you will?"

"You think there's people who would actually -" Julie said before she appeared to sob in pain. "No."

"Kuu, I'm fi-" Kuon attempted to reassure his dad but Kuu cut him off before he could say another word.

"Listen to me, you're not fine. If someone has sent you that or sent Kyoko that, you're definitely _not_ fine. I know you think you're indestructible but there are people here who are much more dangerous then when you left and if one of those people has a problem with you, deep enough of a problem that they know where you are in Japan, there's something very wrong with that." Kuu had such a severity in his voice that both Kyoko and Kuon felt chill against their skin.

"Da-" Kuon tried but Kuu cut him off even before he could say that precious word.

"Promise me that you'll call Boss and tell him about this immediately," Kuu repeated.

"Of course, Father," Kyoko said but Kuu didn't reply to her.

"Kuon, tell me you'll inform him. Promise me that once this conversation ends, you will call him and tell him everything that you've told us," Kuu had even caused Julie to become silent on the phone.

"I promise," Kuon nodded before hearing his mother sob again.

"Are you near him right now? Are you able to get to his house? Are you somewhere safe?" Kuu asked them and Kuon took a shaky breath.

"We're in Kyoto, but it's fine, I assure you we're -" Kuon tried to calm his dad down but it didn't seem to be working.

"If they tracked you down in Kyoto, then you're not fine at all. Call me if anything happens, okay? I don't mean any harm by this advice but tell Boss that you need to come out as Kuon Hizuri. Your mother and I are bound by what we can do if you're Ren Tsuruga but the possibilities open up if you announce that you're our son," Kuu said and Kyoko looked desperately up at her fiancé as he stood and stared at the phone.

"Are you really that worri-"

"Please at least consider it?" Kuu seemed to beg and Kuon looked down.

"You rarely ask me for anything," Kuon said, "I think I'm ready. I'll call the two of you when it's done."

"And call us if there's any more letters or anything like that," Julie spoke up quickly. "I love you, both of you."

"Take care of yourselves," Kuu said and Kuon nodded.

"Thank you. I'll call you when it's done," he told them. "I think that's all. I love both of you as well, of course I do."

"I'll do my best to help, we'll talk to you soon," Kyoko said before hanging up and looked at Kuon with wide eyes. She had never heard Kuu speak in such a terrified or desperate way before. Something definitely felt wrong about all of this.

…

…

A few days later, Kyoko was nervously holding her hand to her chest as she saw Kuon on the country's most popular talk show. Lory had been able to get him this spot to reveal his identity and it definitely seemed safer than if he was to do something with multiple reporters. However, the letter still bothered her. It wasn't seeing Kuon in those photographs which was making her feel this way, she knew all about his past, it was the fact that someone anonymous seemed to be stalking them and leaving notes.

It was chilling for her and it was only the previous day when a bouquet of black roses with the note 'Remember 10th of February' on the tag. It wasn't a coincidence that those were the words and it had led to Kyoko wanting to run out and stop Kuon from speaking on the interview.

Instead, she stood back stage and watched him whilst hoping that everything would work out alright.

"So," the interviewer, Keiko Takayama, smiled as she looked across at her guest. "I already have knowledge about this information, but I was told that you'd like to share it with our live studio audience. For you, Tsuruga Ren is a stage name. Your real name is actually more impressive."

"I'm not sure about impressive, but my dad is a favorite of this country," Ren told her with a smile. He could hear the gossip of the audience members and saw some of them lean forward with nervous anticipation to hear his real name.

"Will you share it with our crowd now, I think they might need a moment after you do, I definitely did," she smiled and Ren looked down.

"My true name is Hizuri Kuon. If that sounds familiar to Hizuri Kuu, my father always had a way of wanting to name me after himself," he told Keiko. He heard the gasps and the chatter from the audience and then saw the lights flickering above them. What was going on here?

Kuon looked around before seeing Keiko's expression as she looked at the audience. Standing up in the middle of the crowd there was a rather tall man wearing a hood and in his hand was a gun. Weren't guns illegal? Kuon looked to see the gun pointed at him but the man seemed to be having a hard time with balance.

As security grabbed him, the man let his gun shoot in front of him but Kuon knew immediately that the angle was wrong. It was pointed towards the host. "Takayama-san!" Kuon said as he pushed her out of the way and felt the bullet pierce his skin.

"Kuon!" Kyoko yelled out as she saw the security men grab the gun from the shooter and ran out to Kuon's side. She saw the pain in his expression and saw the bullet in his upper arm. "Kuon! We need emergency assistance!" she said as Kuon tried to keep consciousness despite the pain.

Who was targeting him in this way?

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **Thank you for reading. Reviews really do mean a lot to me.**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter One**

Crazy4Animation, Emma, and Kris


	3. Chapter 3 - Who They Are

**AN:** So, on Friday I hit my head really badly at work and yesterday my work sent me to the hospital who told me that I had a minor concussion due to the head injury. I want to tell you this because as soon as my head starts to hurt, I will stop using the computer and so updates might be slow for the next week or two

 **Chapter Three – Who They Are**

Kyoko sat anxiously backstage as the onsite medics took a look at Ren…Kuon. She had pulled up a seat beside them and watched intently as the man and woman took a closer look at the bullet wound. Fortunately, even in the act of protecting somebody else, Kuon had turned his arm in a way that had stopped any bones or major arteries from becoming damaged so the wound was minimal.

Kyoko was leaning forwards as if she was examining some type of lab experiment or art piece. He had seen this before when she had been presented with a magical fairy artifact. He looked at her and frowned, "I'm okay. You don't need to be so worried, see, they already said that I don't need to go to the hospital and the guy was apprehended. I'm okay, see if I wasn't, I wouldn't be able to move my arm," he told her before demonstrating it.

"Kuon, that's not what I'm worried about," Kyoko muttered as she raised an eyebrow, "Yes, you being hurt was my initial concern but now that I see you're okay… Kuon, the photographs, the bouquet, the card, now this. Are you really alright? Do you think it could be one of the American gangs or even that woman…Tina?"

Kuon sighed and looked down, "Tina wouldn't do this. She might be cursing a thousand years of bad luck on me every day, she might be trying to dirty my name, she may have even convinced my high school to take all pictures of me out of the yearbooks – not that I was _at_ highschool over there that long - but she has better things to do with her time than come to a talk show with a gun and shoot me over…Rick."

"Is there anyone else you might have killed?" Kyoko asked and Kuon looked at her very pale, his eyes showed his horror at her asking him that question.

"I was responsible for Rick's death but I didn't kill him directly. I've caused people to have concussions, to go into the hospital, to need critical support but nobody died at my hand even when I lost my head," he told her since they were the only two around.

"Sorry," Kyoko admitted as she bowed her head guiltily, "I'm just trying to see if we can figure out who has a death wish against you."

Kuon nodded and reached out with his hand on his not shot arm. He placed it on Kyoko's cheek and brushed away her tears with his thumb before kissing her. "No harm done," he said knowing that she hadn't wanted to ask him that. "I think I'll be okay to work tomorrow."

Kyoko was about to reply but heard another voice, she looked up to see Yashiro standing there with his phone.

"You won't be going to work tomorrow, Kuon," he told his client. Yashiro had been told a few months after he had told Kyoko and it was Kyoko's prodding that had made him do so. It was only after tearing down the walls between them that the two had become more than manager and client and were good friends who often spent time together outside of work. "I've managed to contact everyone and they don't want you to go in."

Kuon's mouth dropped open, "Some of those people will have filming pushed back a week or -"

"And you were nearly assassinated on live TV" Yashiro told him. "I've been taking all calls from LME but the president is outraged at this. I predict he'll be coming down to see you as soon as he can. We knew that the envelope had to be examined but with guns being illegal in Japan, we didn't consider an on-air murder attempt."

Kuon sighed, "Will you stop treating this as something that serious?" he asked. "There are many actors who have nearly been shot who went to work the following day. It's as if you believe nobody's pointed a gun at me before."

"Somebody's -" Yashiro said surprised but Kyoko nodded as if she could picture it.

"Kuon, that was in America and how many times have you actually been shot? I'm assuming that when you were in LA, the guns that might have been pointed at you were in back alleys, streets in the middle of the night, places where it wouldn't have been spotted normally. This was an assassination attempt and I'm not sure who you made this angry but until we know that information, it's going to not be in your best interest to be shot like some deceased celebrities were." Kyoko had to swallow back her sobs, "I don't want to lose you."

Kuon sighed, he hated seeing Kyoko cry and would do anything in his power to stop it. "Okay, if it worries you this much, princess, I'll stop until we can find out who did this. As soon as we have the shooter under control, I'll go back to acting."

Kyoko shared a look with Yashiro and nodded. That would have to be good enough for now.

…..

…..

Kuon looked up at Lory as he sat on the couch with Kyoko beside him and Yashiro on a chair to the side of them. He looked at the president with a little bit of confusion in his eyes. "Mamoru Ootaka?" he asked trying to make sure that he was repeating the name correctly. He didn't really understand it. If they had had an American or Western name then maybe that would make more sense, but he didn't really know this person.

"Yes, he's an eighteen year old who was recently passed over for some financial support from the college he wanted to attend," the president repeated. "He is smart and wanted to be a lawyer. He managed to pass the recent entrance test for Tokyo University, but without the proper funding he couldn't accept the placement. He's from a poor family living just outside of Tokyo prefecture."

"Did it say if he was doing this because he disliked Kuon's popularity?" Kyoko asked and Lory sighed. He was about to answer her question but Kuon looked down.

"That's not the point," he said as everyone turned to him. "Someone of that age and background wouldn't resort to a shooting spree or gun possession just because they dislike someone's work professionally." He looked up at Lory who was sharing his view on the situation, "Someone of that profile would be desperate to attend a university that they had studied for so long to get into. They were being paid by somebody else."

"Which means that whoever is behind this is still out there," Lory said with a hum, "I want to move the two of you to a safe house," he said and Kuon shook his head.

"I'm fine. I've defended myself against -" Kuon tried to protest but was cut off.

"You've protected yourself in face to face combat. You've swerved a car to avoid a small boy from being hit. You've managed to fall from distances that many would have died from but this is beyond what you have -" Lory was caught off guard when he heard his phone buzz and then sent a text message.

"I have news that Kuu has just boarded a plane for Japan," he said as Kyoko and Yashiro looked a mix of excited and relieved, Kuon though looked annoyed and then reluctantly sighed. He had no chance of stopping his parents from making this trip especially when they had warned him about what might happen and the dangers associated with all of this. "Should I give them the address of the safe house or did you want to meet them tomorrow morning just to be safe?"

"Just to be…safe?" Kuon asked confused.

"Although unlikely, we can't rule anyone out to have done this," Lory said and Kuon stared at him in shock.

"I assure you that my parents didn't do this. You really think that my mother would have tracked me down and would hire people to get rid of me? You think that my father would do anything if there's even a chance that I won't be safe because of it?" Kuon stared at him. "Boss, do you think that _Kuu Hizuri_ is ordering assassinations because if that's the view you have of my father after all of your years of friendship, I'm sickened. My dad has _never_ handled confrontations like that and you know how closely he's wanted to protect me ever since my mother told him that she was pregnant."

"There's less than a one-percent chance that Kuu di—"

"My father is one-hundred-percent innocent," Kuon said as he stood up in defense of his father. "My dad has always done whatever he could to keep me safe. He has always respected my wishes. He would never do this to me, never harm me. I'm sickened by the idea that you could even question my father for a second," he said as his voice grew stronger and louder. It didn't matter who he had to defend his father to, he was going to do it without any hesitation.

"Kuu and Julie wouldn't…" Kyoko said as she looked at the floor in front of her.

Lory nodded, "So, sending them over to the house would be fine?" he asked, "they might arrive very early in the morning."

"Yes," Kuon nodded. "Yes. Since I've told Japan my real name, _any time_ that either of my parents want to meet with me, I want to see them with open arms."

…..

…..

Even though there had been some packing for the couple as they tried to move their essentials to what Kuon was referring to as the "unnecessary safehouse", Kyoko still couldn't sleep. She was scared to know that there was anybody who could do this to Kuon and despite how much Kuon had wanted to meet his parents at the airport, Kyoko didn't want him to be seen in public.

However, she knew that there were only two options. First, she could go to the aiport with him or second, she could talk to him about her nervousness with him being in public and he would have snuck off without her. He was sometimes like a spoiled child in that way.

So, that was how the two of them had come to meet the Hizuris at the airport.

As they stood at the arrivals gate, Kuon hadn't contacted his parents directly so it was going to be a bit of a surprise, Kyoko looked around nervously. She didn't like this. She didn't like how he could be spotted above the heads of other people. She didn't like how there were so many points where someone could be hiding. She didn't like how his arm had been bandaged because of the gun wound.

There was a lot that she did _not_ like about this situation.

"It's going to be fine," Kuon told her as Kyoko held onto his hand. "If there's…" he saw everyone staring at him and saw how security had stepped closer and everyone else had stepped away from him and was staring at him as if he was a victim of some horrific event.

It was when he was caught off guard by everyone, that he heard a woman scream and run out towards them. Kuon looked at her weakly and Juli ran out, she wrapped her arms around him and then started to look over him more carefully. She broke down into messy sobs into his chest.

"Kuon, what are you doing here?" she asked through her sobs. "You shouldn't be out here," she said as she looked over at Kuu who was staring at his son in fear and then seemed to be looking up to the second and third floor to check if there was any suspicious activity.

"Kuon," he said despite how many people were watching him and taking photos. "Okay, you're safe right? Nothing's happened since the interview, nothing's happened, right?" he asked Kyoko who shook her head and Kuu inspected his son.

"I'm fine, it was nothi—" Kuon tried to comfort his parents.

Kuu shook his head, "Somebody tried to kill you and I swear if I ever find out who that guy is then I'm going to make sure he suffers for what he's -" he said protectively as Kyoko watched him. Where was the love and peace guy or was Kuon more important than that? "You shouldn't be out here."

"Hizuri-san," a male voice could be heard and Julie latched herself onto her son as Kyoko still held onto his hand and looked behind them. Kuu took a step in front of his son.

"If you wish to get to him, then you're going to have to get through me," Kuu warned as a fire burned in his eyes. The man was tall – though the Hizuris were taller - and didn't look particularly threatening. He had a few bruises on his body as if he had been beaten up at a bar and the glasses he wore gave him a professional appearance.

"I feel that Hizuri Kuon and I will need to have a little chat," the man said as Kuu steadied himself, raising his chin to show his height.

"And I'm telling you that I am not leaving my son's side so anything you say to him can be shared with me. I warn you, I'm not as easy a man as you think I am and my children and wife are my highest priority," he said sounding like a professional bodyguard and the amazing father he was.

Kyoko froze as she heard the voice and turned around, she opened her mouth weakly, "It's okay, father," she said before dropping down into a bow and stood up again. "How can we help you, Todoh-san?"

 **End of Chapter Three**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are definitely appreciated**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Two**

Crazy4Animation, Kris, ktoll9, ladygraywolf, paulagato


	4. Chapter 4 - Where the Mind Goes

**AN:** I really hope you enjoy. It's hard for me to not include too much fantasy-realism in a story so it's nice to make this more crime related. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Four – Where the Mind Goes**

Kyoko turned to her fiancé and his parents as they looked forward to the man who was standing opposite them. "This is my mother's colleague, Todoh-san," Kyoko tried to tell them and Kuon raised an eyebrow.

"The person that you contacted when you went to see her?" he asked and Kyoko nodded. "Wasn't that years ago when you were seventeen?" he wanted to verify and Kyoko nodded again.

"It might be nothing, Kuon, but my mother's a lawyer. I'm surprised that she sent Todoh-san down to see us but -"

"But she didn't," Todoh said as he stepped forwards and looked at the family. "Although I was never a victim of an attempted assassination on live network television, I did have a run in with a young gang the other day so I feel that with my family background in police work, I can tell you who the culprit is."

Kyoko smiled widely and she looked around, even though she had stepped to stand beside Kuu, Kuu was still making it so that Kuon was blocked from the front and Julie wasn't letting herself get distracted in the other directions. If somebody really wanted to kill Kuon, it was not going to be easy for them to do it.

"Maybe not in such a private place," Kuon whispered as he saw Kuu put an arm up to barricade him from stepping forward. "Dad, what are you?" he heard Julie gasp with tears in her eyes as she looked at him and saw Kuu give a weak smile as well despite the situation.

"Alright, so we won't do this in a public place," Kuu said before taking the suitcases again. "We're heading to the car, you can join us if you want to talk," he said before seeing Kuon standing there and just putting his arm around Kyoko. He needed more protection than this. He needed to not be outside.

As they entered a place where they were the only people, Kuu looked at Todoh who seemed to be attempting to blend into the background. "So, what is it? You think you have evidence of who is targeting my son and yourself?"

"Yes," Todoh nodded, "I won't give you the name since the one I have is most likely a false name. Very popular acting name if I remember clearly."

"And that is?" Kyoko asked with a smile, it would be easy to track down an actor with their connections. Lory would take the information and be able to have the man in front of the police station within a small number of hours.

"Hozu Shuuhei," Todoh said and Kuon looked over at Kuu who was extremely irritated at the use of that name. He started glaring at the air before him and Kuon could understand. If someone he cared about was being targeted by a second Ren Tsuruga, he would be pissed as well. "Now, I don't think that it is the actual -'

"What gave it away?" Kuu asked in a deep voice, his eyes showing anger flashing through them which was rare to see. "It's either a different Shuuhei Hozu or -"

"Dad, nobody is saying that you're involved in this," Kuon tried to stand up for his father as Julie rolled her eyes and studied Kuu to see if he could stay calm that the person who was targeting Kuon was using his name.

"Now, I think that the actual person we're looking for is the man Kyoko-san calls her father," Todoh continued and Kuon felt his own anger at this.

"Can I ask you why you – why everyone is questioning my father on this? Sure, our relationship might seem strained on the outside but my father would never send anyone to hurt anyone else and he most definitely wouldn't hurt me. If you honestly think that Kuu Hizuri is capable of having a cold and cruel bone in his body then you have no right to talk to him. I don't care who you are or who you think you are," he growled out as the old Kuon seemed to come out, "you do not get to disrespect Kuu Hizuri especially in front of me."

"Honey, it's -" Julie said as Kuu wasn't sure what type of reaction to have to how his son stood up for him.

"Do you know about my father?" Kyoko asked quietly as she tried to think about what this information meant. She froze as she heard someone in the shadows. She looked around before noticing that there were three people in heavy gang gear, the type of people Erika's attendants had pretended to be, standing there.

"Kyoko, I need you to take my parents and Todoh-san and get them away from here," Kuon whispered before he stepped out in front of the group.

"Julie," Kyoko said before she grabbed the woman's hand, "I apologize," she said before pulling her into the shadows and looked back to see Kuon push Todoh-san away. Kuon then looked to Kuu who seemed pissed.

"Run," Kuon said as he looked back at his father with a fire in his eyes. He saw his dad continue to stand there and get into a fighting position. "Dad, it's not you they are after," he said before Kuu shook his head.

"Do you really think that I don't know anything about this?" Kuu asked as he zipped his jacket up and stood by his son's side ready to take on the opposing men. "Do you even remember who practiced with you when you were a kid?" he asked with a cocky grin that Kyoko had seen too many times on Kuon's face.

She stood back.

Kuon looked at the three men and as one of the men stepped to the side, Kuon turned his attention there. As the man rushed to him it was as if the world had sped up and slowed down at the exact same time. Despite the man holding a knife, his movements weren't that quick and every time he attempted to flip or show off some form or technique, Kuon could detect the weak part of his body. He could tell which places he could hit so that the man would die or that would just knock him unconscious.

He had to go for unconscious.

As he surveyed his opponent, Kuon managed to locate a pressure point on his upper shoulder. With a quick jab, he struck and pushed the man back as he attempted to keep consciousness. That meant that his fight could be with the other two. His eyes widened as he saw how skillfully Kuu had managed to knock the third man out and now there was only one left.

Somehow they had left the most dangerous for last but they were together. If they worked as a team they would be able to silence this third man.

Grabbing his chest, Kuon managed to hold him in position for his father to knock him back and leave him on the ground. Kuon waited for the moment until. He felt something press deep into his arm and he fell down, the world seeming to spin around him in a way that he hadn't felt before. He pressed a hand to his arm and found a syringe there.

He looked up at his father who had rushed to his side and smiled weakly, slipping the needle into his own pocket. "I didn't know you could fight like that," he said before experiencing a painful headache. He looked down feeling woozy but tried his hardest to hide it.

"Julie! We need a medic now! Call an ambulance!" Kuu yelled at his face grew incredibly pale in terror for his son.

"I'm fine," Kuon tried to argue and Kuu looked at him.

"Deep breaths, okay. You need to keep awake, you need to breathe, because whatever you are Kuon, you're not _fine_ ," Kuu said as he looked at the man before him. He didn't know how to describe it but his son's eyes were dilated, he was sweating, his body was shaking, and he looked deathly pale. Hopefully it wasn't a poison.

"Corn?" Kyoko asked as she tried to pull him up and found his body extremely limp. She seemed to have the strength to drag him but she knew that trying that would hurt him. "Father?" she asked as Kuu nodded and picked up the limp body of his son.

"Kuon, stay awake, okay?" she told him before seeing Todoh removing the wallets of the men as well as their weapons and taking photographs of the documents with his phone. Kyoko wanted to ask him more questions about her father but her fiancé came first.

"I'll contact you," Todoh told her as he phoned the police and Kyoko quickly went over to where Kuon was.

He didn't look good at all.

…..

…..

Ren took a step inside of the LME agency building. With everything that was happening around him, getting back to acting would really help him. He could go into the agency and find Yashiro to ask him what was going on and what project they were working on next. For some reason, he couldn't remember his work schedule…which was strange.

"Sir, I'm afraid that only professionals are allowed to use this entrance," a young girl told him. She looked at him as if she didn't know who he was. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Kuon attempted to speak but it was as if he couldn't.

"Oh god, someone call the police!" another man yelled as Ren looked down at his hands, there was something growing there like slime. He put a finger to it and then pulled back as he realized that the red liquid was blood. As he came in further to the agency he could hear the sound of a car hitting someone's body and a woman screaming and his heart hurt.

"You've killed him!" he could hear Tina yelling at him, "You've killed him, you murderer! You're just an animal! Killer!" Ren took another step forwards and then found there to be blood all over the ground and he saw Yashiro's corpse. The blood seemed to cover up more of his skin.

He looked forwards and was happy to see his mother and father talking with Lory.

"Dad," he finally called out but all three of the people he was looking at stared at him with a deep disgust and hatred.

"What did he call you?" Lory laughed coldly, "I didn't think we allowed vermin in here."

"Well I certainly don't take claim of him," Julie shrugged as she attempted to ignore him. Kuu looked at him and seemed to sneer at him.

"Well, he's not a son of mine."

Finally Kuon looked up and Kyoko stood opposite him, however she looked to be in a wedding dress. Were they getting married that day? What about the murder? Weren't they going to deal with the murder? "Kyoko,"

Kyoko looked at him as her hate seemed to radiate off of her and her hair changed and a scar formed on her face until she looked just like Mio. "As if I could ever love you," she told him before he saw Fuwa approach her and she leaned up before making out with him and…

…..

…..

"Stop it!" Kuon yelled and his eyes opened to a bright light in the room. This didn't look like the airport. He felt that his arms and legs were getting held down and his head was being held as if people were trying to save him from hurting himself from a seizure.

"Kuon?" Kyoko said as she placed one hand on each side of his face, she had tears in her eyes and looked completely exhausted. "Kuon, are you okay?"

Kuon looked at her, this was the hospital. Why was he in the hospital? Why was his father on one side of him and the president on the other and they both looked exhausted. Where was he?

"I think it should be safe to let go," Lory said as Kuon realized that the hospital had strapped him down but that when he had broken through the straps, his dad and second father figure had done whatever they could to stop him from harming himself.

"Are you sure? Kuon, are you okay?" Kuu asked as the desperation could be seen on his face.

"I'll grab the nurse!" he heard his mother say as Kuon looked around dazed, he stared at his clothes and his body which looked as if they had been torn apart by some wild animal. Had he done this? He could see that some of Lory's clothes were ripped and his father seemed to have a few bruises on his body.

"I am going to charge you the repairs for this," Lory said as he showed his old friend the tears in his costume of a 1920s crime lord.

"How long have I been -" Kuon asked as he looked at them and nobody looked at him. He felt Kyoko grab his hand and watch him nervously.

"I think it's been eighteen hours, you must have been having some really bad dreams," she said to him as she saw the fear in his eyes. "I'm glad that you're alright, Kuon. I can't really be much use to you when the fighting's in your head. I hope that I was -"

"You were in my dream, princess," he told her as Kyoko looked at him hopefully. "I don't think you want to know what you were -"

"It's okay, tell me. If it's one of your fears, Corn, I'll do whatever I can to try to keep it from you. Please tell me?" she asked him knowing that he would usually try to find some way to hide the truth from her but she wasn't in the mood for some lying Tsuruga Ren smile right now.

"You hated me," Kuon said as Kyoko shook her head, "and you were going to marry Fuwa."

Kyoko frowned before standing up, "Now I'm really going to kill that asshole," she said as Kuon looked up at her. He weakly smiled, maybe that part of the dream really was more of a crime to her than the other parts that his mind couldn't let go of.

 **End of Chapter Four**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **So, I'd like to know if there's any interest to see what happened whilst Kuon was drugged. I'm on the fence about writing about him attacking Lory and Kuu and having seizures or leaving that up to the imagination.**

 **Thank you reviewers Chapter Three**

Guest, Kris, ktoll9, paulagato


	5. Chapter 5 - What Went Wrong

**AN:** I really wanted to write this, I know I keep updating this fic but it's because it's really a fun fic for me. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Five – What Went Wrong**

As Julie heard the sound of the medics, she tried to take some steps forward to make sure they were getting to her son who was still in Kuu's arms. Scarily, Kuon kept seeming to be pulling in and out of consciousness and his body had gone cold, his heartbeat had weakened, and he had trouble breathing which worried all of them.

"Kuon?" Kyoko asked as she let her thumb go through his hair, "Father he's not," she saw Kuon's eyes close and she bit her lip before slapping him so he woke up. She looked up at Kuu who, though surprised, was nodding in understanding of why she had done that.

"Dad, don't leave. Please, don't go to work today," Kuon said in his state of delirium as he turned towards his father's chest. Kyoko looked up at Kuu who had pulled Kuon in closer to him.

"I told you that Julie and I often put our careers before him when he was a kid without meaning to," Kuu told her as he imagined those were the memories that Kuon had. "He was always far too considerate of a kid to tell us that he felt this way. If he had then maybe things would be different."

Julie rushed over to the two of them with the medics following with a stretcher.

"They have to take him to the hospital," she told her father and daughter, she looked at her son who barely seemed to be holding on. It was strange seeing such a strong man acting this way. He had been taken down by some kind of drug or poison.

"I can go with him, right?" Kyoko asked the two men who were getting him on the stretcher and the bed to load into the ambulance. The two of them nodded and Kyoko gave a weak smile to his parents before rushing off with her fiancé. She had been feeling hopeful until she had heard the words of one of the medics.

"It's going to be a miracle if he survives to the hospital," he said and Kyoko looked down. She wasn't going to let the sadness swallow her up. Instead she looked at the two of them and smiled.

"My future husband is full of miracles," she said. She looked at him, seeing him this way was terrifying to her. Maybe if she wished hard enough then he would pull through okay. She let her hand smooth out the brunette strands of Ren Tsuruga and held onto his hand. "Corn, you've shown me that you can fly before. Don't let some liquid in a needle win over you."

Before the medics had hooked Kuon up to all the devices he needed, Kyoko saw the Hizuri's put the luggage in the car and get ready to go to the hospital after them.

"Corn, it's going to be alright, you just fight for us, okay?" she begged as she placed a hand on his chest wanting to feel his breaths and his heartbeat. "I love you so much, Kuon."

How was her father connected to this? These weren't the stories of someone trying to get a case file? This wasn't supposed to happen when the person didn't have a real name. Of course over the span of twenty-one years, people could change drastically.

...

…..

Kyoko sat very still at the side of his hospital bed with her hands cupped around the stone that he had given her as kids. It had been six hours and the hospital had told her that there had been a composite of things inside that needle so they could give him some drugs that would counteract with what was in there but they couldn't be certain about it. She was still hearing the gossip between the medical staff as they argued over his name.

As Kyoko looked at him, she had to wonder at what point over the last two years they had been dating had she finally stopped seeing him as Ren Tsuruga and instead had seen him as Kuon Hizuri. Maybe it was when she had finally seen him interact with Kuu in the president's office or maybe it was when they had slept together for the first time.

When she looked at him, despite the contacts and brown hair, she knew that he was playing the part of Ren Tsuruga but she always thought about him as Kuon, Corn, her fairy prince. He would only take out his contacts in private with her and he had taken them out today. This was his first day in public as Kuon Hizuri. She really hoped it wasn't his last.

"His heart beat is getting stronger," Julie said as she watched the heart monitor. Kyoko turned her attention to it and smiled. Maybe he would pull through this.

" 'oko," Kuon said as sweat started to build on his forehead and he wriggled in the bed, " 'yoko." He coughed and a slight amount of vomit could be seen on the sheet.

"I'm here, Kuon," Kyoko whispered as she placed a hand on his forehead. "I'm right here, my sweet Corn. Father, can you go and get something to cl-" she was about to continue but Kuon's body seemed to convulse right in front of her. With her eyes widening, Kyoko reached out and placed her hands on his cheeks and gently held him. She was scared of him hitting his head and hurting himself even more. "Kuon, can you…"

The way his body seemed to flail around as if he was being tasered terrified her. How strong was this drug that they had injected him with. "Father," she said as she saw Julie standing and holding onto one of his arms, "What do we do?" she asked.

Kuu looked at his son before rolling him onto his side and then stepped to the front of him, kneeling down. "Let go of him," Kuu said to both his daughter and his wife. Kuu very gently placed a hand under Kuon's head until the seizure had stopped and after he had vomited a little more, Kuu made sure that he could breathe properly.

"What was that?" Julie asked, her eyes widening as she looked her son over.

"Is he - Is he okay?" Kyoko asked as she tried to hide how scared she had been seeing Kuon this way. He seemed to return to sleep and Kuu rolled him gently to the other side so that the hospital staff could clean up what he had thrown up.

"I don't know," Kuu told her honestly. "It depends on what the drug had inside of it. Right now I think it's best for us to stay here in case he has another seizure or convulsion and let him rest."

"He's Kuon Hizuri, things like this don't happen to him. I've only seen him sick a few times and I live with him," Kyoko told them. She kissed the top of Kuon's head very gently. "I've never seen him as weak as this before." Kyoko tried to brush away the tears in her eyes. "I hate seeing him this way."

…..

…..

It was ten hours since the attack and Kyoko had been ignoring her phone. She _had_ had a chance to contact her own manager as well as Yashiro to tell them of the situation. It was Kuu who had contacted the president who seemed enraged at Kuon's condition. Kyoko let her hand run down Kuon's neck and spine as he shivered. He hadn't had any seizures in the past four hours so that was a hopeful sign.

Kyoko blinked up sleepily as she saw the president standing in the doorway and smiled, "I should have guessed they'd give _you_ clearance," she said ignoring any formalities she usually would have made. She just wanted to be by Kuon's side. She didn't like those few times when he had had a cold but this was worse. There really was a possibility of him _dying_ from this.

"How's he doing?" Lory asked as he took a step forward, "I heard about the seizure. I'm still working to figure out who is behind all of this."

Kyoko closed her eyes and sighed, "We were told it might be my biological father. I don't know though, the way that my mother described him," she shook her head as Kuon started to speak again.

"'yoko. I love you. Please…please don't…I'm sorry," he whispered as Kyoko let her fingers go through the brown strands again.

"I'm right here, sweetheart," she tried to remind him. "I'm right here, just rest."

"you can't leave me!" Kuon yelled in his sleep seeming more aggravated than before and Kyoko let herself hold onto his body in a side hug.

"Kuon, I'm right here," she tried to tell him before looking up at the president, "He's been talking in his sleep. He's not conscious but he must be having some lonely dreams with the way he's speaking. I keep trying to tell him that I won't leave him but I don't think he -"

"Get away from her!" Kuon seemed to roar in his sleep before shaking but this time it seemed that he was attacking himself. "Have to get it. Have to get it now. She won't leave," he said as he seemed to be making an attempt to dig into his own skin. He had already torn off part of the hospital gown.

"Father!" Kyoko said as Kuu looked up and saw his son attempting to fight something. Even Lory had taken a step forwards but Kuu shook his head.

"Kuon, you're asleep," he said firmly. "The things that are happening are not real. They're in your head," he said as he saw Kuon thrash around again and he put his hands around his son's wrist trying to get him to stop. "Calm down" he tried to order his son but then saw his son attempting to get loose. "Julie! We need a nurse to sedate him!" he said before feeling Kuon hit him as he got loose.

"Boss," Kuu said desperately as he attempted to keep Kuon from his nightmare. Lory took a step forwards and attempted to calm him down but even the two men were scared when Kuon's voice became louder.

"I'll kill you! Don't hurt her!" he said as he sat up and glared with such hatred as his father. His eyes still appeared dilated. "Don't hurt her you monster! Kuon you monster! You don't get to touch her," he said as he threw a few more hits in his father's direction.

Lory attempted to step forwards enough to try to get Kuon's hands away from his father but felt Kuon grab him again. Kuu pulled him off and stared firmly at Lory.

"Thank you for trying to help, Boss, but he's my son and I've got him," he said as he grabbed Kuon around the back and tried to get him back onto the bed. As the nurse and doctor ran in, they managed to find a needle and sink it into Kuon's body. He fell down onto the bed as the sedative kicked in.

"What was he doing?" Julie asked as she saw that Kuu had been hit several times. "Kuu, can we get some ice for my husband?" she asked.

"He wasn't with it, he wasn't…right," Kuu tried to explain. "He seemed to be hallucinating or still dreaming. He wasn't in reality with us."

"Which gives him the right to punch you?" Julie asked and Kuu nodded firmly.

"That along with the fact that I haven't been a proper dad to him for nine years, yes, I'm going to let him hit me if that's what he needs," Kuu said as he saw Kuon sleep again.

"That was definitely something I never wish to be part of again," Lory said as he checked the rips in his clothes. "That boy was scary in a much different way this time."

Kyoko blinked back tears. Who was he attempting to protect her from? Was he really trying to attack the Kuon side of himself? Did he see himself as the one who was assaulting her? "I love you so much, my prince Corn," she attempted to remind him.

…..

…..

Over the next eight hours, Kuon had gone through two more seizures and another period of waking up and going into a complete rage over his delusions. In fact, because of how angry he had been and the danger he had posed to both himself and others, the nurse had suggested strapping him down. Of course, this being Kuon meant it wasn't going to work very well.

"Stop it!" Kuon yelled out after his body had settled down from the third seizure and Kyoko saw his eyes open. His eyes weren't dilated any longer and he seemed to have more awareness of what was going on around him. She pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead and saw him try to sit up as the normal, gentle, and mature Kuon.

"Are you okay, my sweet Corn?" Kyoko asked wondering if he could hear her, "Are you back with us?" she let her fingers run through his hair again. She didn't know who this soothed most, him or herself.

"Kuon?" Kyoko asked as she saw her fiance's eyes start to get used to the light in the hospital room, "Kuon, are you okay?" she said as she held both of his cheeks. She needed him to be alright. She needed to know that those drugs were out of his system.

She saw the bewildered look in his eyes as he tried to mentally sort out everything that had happened since the fight at the airport.

Those were eighteen hours that she definitely didn't want to go through again and she wanted them for him even less. It scared her how he had yelled about her leaving every time he had spoken during these past hours. Did he really think that she was ever going to be able to leave him?

He was her prince Kuon.

 **End of Chapter Five**

 **Thank you so much for reading**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Four**

Kris, ktoll9


	6. Chapter 6 - What's Most Important

**AN:** Hope you guys are enjoying this. Kyoko's father will make an appearance next chapter.

 **Chapter Six – What's Most Important**

Kyoko looked across at Kuon as he seemed to take ragged breaths. Despite the hospital telling him he was able to go back home, his condition wasn't good. They had instructed Kyoko to allow him a lot of rest and for her to make note of any change in behavior or if he had trouble doing anything or lack of appetite. That last one she didn't know _how_ to check.

As she let her fingers run through the brown hair, she pushed herself up off of the bed and kissed his lips very gently. "I'll be right back, okay?" she asked as she wiped away tears. She thought of the black bouquet and the note telling her to treasure Kuon's birthday. It wasn't close but maybe that was the point. She brushed away her tears and got ready to see her to-be in-laws.

As she exited the room, Julie looked up and turned around as if waiting for her to exit.

"How is he?" she asked quickly. Kyoko looked down. She knew that she wouldn't be able to lie to these two, they were only people standing in the places of her parents, but they were so nice. They had done so much for the two of them. They were two of the most important people in Kuon's life.

"I think better, not good, but better," Kyoko said before seeing Kuu's very concerned look. She hated seeing him so depressed. It was sometimes worse for her to see Kuu like this than Kuon. At least she felt that she had ways of making Kuon feel better but this was the look she had seen on her father's face just before he had left Japan during their first visit and he was thinking about how his son felt distant from him and the bad life he had given him.

"I need to ask the two of you for a favor," she said as Kuu nodded and Julie instantly took her hand.

"Anything," the two of them said at the same time and Kyoko looked down. Just like Kuon, these two would give her anything that she wanted. They were too good for her.

"I need to go out somewhere but I don't know how safe he is. I'll leave the door to the bedroom open so please listen out to see if there's something wrong?" she asked them and Kuu nodded as he looked at her concerned. "I _will_ be back so don't worry and I'm alright going alone. Just….if something does happen or he has another seizure, please text me immediately."

"We will," Kuu assured her, "Do you need someone to come with you?"

Kyoko shook her head and forced a smile on her face although she really didn't feel any happiness from this situation. "I'll be fine. I'll make sure to take care of myself but please make sure to take care of Kuon in my place."

"Definitely," Julie said as she ran a hand down Kyoko's arm, "Please, darling, please stay safe and keep aware of your surroundings. The last thing that Kuon wants is for you to put yourself at risk for any danger."

"I will," she bowed to them again before getting ready to leave. She took another look in the direction of the bedroom where she and Kuon were staying. She closed her eyes as she attempted to blink away the tears from seeing him in his current condition. "I love you, Kuon," she whispered before stepping out of the house.

She had to go see Todoh-san and find out what this had to do with her biological father.

…..

…..

Kyoko stared in horror at the secretary at the law firm that her mother worked at. She didn't know what to say but she felt something trickle down her skin as if it was some type of slime. She looked down and felt her fist tighten. She had to find out what was going on here.

"Are you sure?" she asked the woman again, "Todoh-san, it's important that I talk to him. Don't you know who I am?" Kyoko felt sick. She rarely used the fact that she was _the Kyoko_ to get what she wanted but this time she would use anything and everything that had even a remote chance of working.

"We do know, as much as I love your dramas especially your newer work –" the secretary said and Kyoko looked down.

"Don't you know who my fiancé is?" she asked and the secretary raised an eyebrow before looking excited.

"Well congratulations, I didn't know that you and Hizuri Kuon –"

Kyoko shook her head, "That's not important right now. This is _about_ Kuon. Don't you have a boyfriend that you'd do anything for? Don't you have a friend or family member who means the world to you? I'm not as important as Kuon is and somebody's targeting him and Todoh-san know-"

"Todoh-san is currently in the hospital," Saena Mogami said as she approached her daughter, "and I don't appreciate the kind of fuss that you're causing. You really are a distraction that I pity. If it wasn't for you being so talented, people wouldn't have found out my unfortunate connection to you."

Kyoko bit her top lip and took deep breaths before standing firm against her mother. "Hello," she bowed weakly, unable to forego her etiquette. "May I know the reasons for Todoh-san's sudden -"

"He started having seizures after a drug overdose," Saena said as she saw Kyoko's shocked face. "I hear that Hizuri-san went through something similar. Are you sure that it wasn't because you were in his presence, I hear that toxic things can start things like that," she said but Kyoko only showed determination in her face.

"I recognize his importance to you, mother," Kyoko nodded. "Let me tell you that I would not have even set foot in here unless it was for Kuon's safety and health.

"I do pity him for that," Saena said coldly and Kyoko looked away. She wasn't here to find forgiveness in this woman, she wasn't here for herself. All that she needed was knowledge on her father, on the man targeting the one she loved more than anyone else – sorry Moko-chan.

"I need to know the information about my biological father," Kyoko said as her chest tightened, "I know that that was what Todoh-san was researching. I know that he would share his research with you."

"Unfortunately, this time he didn't, however he was sharing the information with the president of your agency. I'd start there if you had any type of common sense," Saena advised her and Kyoko nodded stiffly before bowing.

"Thank you, I hope you have a good day, Mother" she said before she walked out of the law firm and pulled out her phone. She should have started with him. Lory Takarada often knew everything before anyone else and the amount of love he had for Kuon would have made him extremely interested in the situation.

She was glad to hear him pick up and after talking to him for a few moments, Kyoko was on her way to his office.

…

…

"So," Kyoko said as she stood looking at the president, "I was told that you had information about my father, specifically about his current location," she asked him, wrapping her arms around herself as if making an attempt to keep herself safe. Lory watched her and sighed, he looked to the side.

"Kyoko," he sighed before looking at her as the woman in front of him. "I don't think it's wise for you to know who your father is."

"Well then I'll say that my imagination is right and that my father really did orchestrate these attacks on the man I love," Kyoko said firmly as she frowned and gave a bold look to the president. "Do you really think that I'm attempting to say and do these things because of a desire to meet my father and have a family reunion? You saw how Kuon was at the hospital."

"And I'm saying that you don't want to know the things that he's capable of," Lory argued back with her and Kyoko frowned again.

"Tell me because as much as you want to tell me that he's a crime lord, a drug dealer, a hired assassin, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I need to find a way to marry a man I love unconditionally and a man who has _always_ been there for me. Do you know that they wanted to get rid of me as Mio when I ran off in Dark Moon. It was stupid and frivolous of me. I've come to reflect on the negatives behind that decision as well as the way the risk paid off. What I didn't know at that time was that Director Hiroaki was only persuaded by Ren Tsuruga's confidence in me. He's been looking out for me for years and he can't do it right now so I'm looking out for him," Kyoko told Lory passionately as tears washed down her cheeks.

She wasn't the one who most needed help right now. The one who needed help was Kuon.

If this was what she could do to help him then this is what she would do.

"Well he's not a hired assassin," Lory sighed. "Kyoko, I don't know how he did it but your father is a leader of one of the Tokyo Yakuza groups. I'm not sure what he wants with Kuon but I am asking that you don't see him. I'm suspecting that he has some more attacks planned against Kuon but Kuon's tough. I trust in his abilities more than your own."

Kyoko shot the president a glare, "Then _you_ send in _your_ men. I know you have them all over the place. Don't you care about Kuon…even if you don't care about Kuon, care about Kuu."

"Of course, I care about Kuon!" Lory said louder than anticipated as he stood up and looked down, "Things like this are delicate, Kyoko, they take time."

"Give me the address," Kyoko ordered him with her hand out stretched. "I know you have it. Tell me where he is."

Lory looked at her before writing down the address, "I don't think that you should go alone," he told her and Kyoko glared at him.

"You don't get to decide for me. I've paid off all my debts. I'm not a sixteen-year-old kid anymore." Kyoko sighed as she looked at the paper again. "Do you remember when you called me into your office when I was eighteen and it had just gone public that I was dating Ren Tsuruga? Do you remember that you could look in my eyes and know that he had told me his real identity? Do you remember that you told me that despite the hard work, the perseverance, the guts, the dedication that I had to my work, that when I came to realize what was really important that I would understand that acting and my career wasn't something I should stake my life on. That everybody has that one element of their life they value higher than anything else?"

Lory sighed and nodded, this wasn't the humble little girl in front of him anymore, this was a talented adult actress who matched up with Kuon in every way, "I remember."

" _Kuon_ is that one element in my life and I swear, if he dies and you just stood by and let it happen, I won't forgive you and I assure you that I will _never_ come back to LME at least not willingly," she said before bowing deeply and leaving.

Despite how risky it was, she would have to pay her father a little visit.

…..

…..

As Kyoko came back to the house, she looked in the bedroom and felt her heart hurt when she noticed that Kuon wasn't in the bed. She took another deep breath in. Where was he? She went to the living room to see Kuu and Julie reading over Japanese magazines that had highlighted both her and Kuon. "Where is he? Is he okay?" Kyoko asked nervously.

"He's doing better," Julie smiled, "He told us that he's going to make himself a sandwich. He felt hungry."

Kyoko blinked, "He felt hungry?" she asked confused. "I'm not sure that Kuon knows what hungry _is_ supposed to feel like."

"Well he's making a sandwich right now," Julie told her daughter and Kyoko sighed.

She was almost certain that the thing that Kuon was making was his _special_ dish and that he would be offering to eat it alone so that she wouldn't have to fight with him. It was a special ritual he did when he would go into battle. Kyoko smiled weakly, well, if making his Oahu omelet would make him feel better she would sit beside him and battle it together.

"Julie, please let me remind you how much I love and adore your son but please do not call that thing a sandwich," she said before going into the kitchen. She smiled as she saw Kuon at the stove and went to grab the special sauce out of the pantry where she had brought it from their apartment. It was something that they always needed whenever Kuon had a very off day.

"Sweetheart," Kyoko said as she approached him. "I'm right here. I'm sorry that I left, there were some things that I -" Kyoko froze as she looked at what Kuon was making. This was definitely not his special omelet. She leaned over and saw that it was a grilled cheese sandwich and she looked at him confused.

She knew he was a better cook than he was all those years ago. They often cooked together but he followed her instructions. This was something that looked edible and he was making himself. "Corn," she said as she looked at the sandwich as if it was an alien life form. "What are you doing?"

"I felt hungry, is this not right?" he asked her and Kyoko was caught off guard by those amazing emerald eyes of his.

"You felt…hungry?" Kyoko asked before feeling in her pocket for the paper. "Kuon, I have to go out tonight to do something for work. Are you alright if I go?" she asked and he nodded looking at her with a smile.

Somebody had some questions to answer.

 **End of Chapter Six**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Special Thank you Reviewers of Chapter Five**

Kris, ktoll9, paulagato


	7. Chapter 7 - Why I'll Always Follow

**AN:** I know I've focused a lot on this fic recently, but this is going to be the last chapter for a little bit whilst I work on two of my other fics: It's Just Like Magic and More Like a Phoenix. Well, unless there's an unexpected number of reviews. I hope you enjoy 😊 the ending won't be too much of a cliffhanger this time 😉

 **Chapter Seven – Why I'll Always Follow**

Kyoko looked around at the building ahead of her. It looked like a typical office building that was several stories high and home to a lot of tech companies both the development and the selling. There were also a few stores that sold anime goods but it was where their marketing department was located. Was this really the correct address? Had the president written it down to trick her into going here?

As she took a few steps forwards, she saw a somewhat clumsy man fiddling with one of the signs outside of the building. He looked like a nice guy. Kyoko looked down at the name on the address and sighed, at least it was a company name. "Hello, excuse me, could you help me?" she asked.

As the man turned, Kyoko's eyes widened, this man looked a lot like herself. No, she was on the lookout for someone like herself and if she had to be honest, this looked like a member of Hikaru Ishibashi's family. It must just be a common look in Japan. She looked him over. He was wearing a black t-shirt of an American rock band and had a black bandanna around his forehead.

"Hello," he said before wiping the sweat from his brow, "Anything that I can – oh wow, you're the famous Kyoko right? But the last name, it doesn't…"

"Yes, my last name isn't reported in many places," Kyoko smiled. Somehow this man seemed far too harmless to be anyone important. She bowed respectfully. "I'm actually looking for something."

"Well, I'm not sure which company but I'd be happy to take you inside and show you a listing of where the different companies are," he smiled and Kyoko nodded. She had to act as if she was going to a meeting with a company. Maybe this man would show her the way to go, perhaps this wasn't going to be as hard as she thought.

"You'd really show me," she said as she watched the man put a hand in his bag and she could swear she heard the beeps of three devices. Must just be him reporting back to management on his phone. "Well thank you, I really do appreciate it," she tried to grin though her heart was determined. She was going to find the asshole that her father was and tell him how cowardly he had been.

"You seem such a nice girl and it's always worked for me in the past to help celebrities," he told her as he took off his glasses and rubbed them with a cloth. "I'm just a little bit clumsy sometimes, these get smudged all the time."

"I've heard that contacts can be hard as well," Kyoko smiled as she remembered a conversation with Kuon where he had been terrified if anything got near his eyes when they were slightly red from his first cold he had had as a couple. If the green eyes were caught on camera there would be a lot to explain.

"Yes, I don't feel like I need to wear them," the man smiled as Kyoko entered the building with him. "So, the board is going to be right over here," he gestured as they walked down a quiet corridor. It was actually a quite pleasant walk since the man did seem rather clumsy. Kyoko closed her eyes for a moment and the man seemed to trip, she reached out to help him and found herself slammed against a wall.

What the -

"You are awfully pretty," the man said as he held Kyoko to the wall and somehow he had even more strength than Kuon did. That was terrifying knowing Kuon's skill. "I mean, I would love to take a bite out of you," he said as he pushed her into the wall and grabbed her shirt, ripping it open as Kyoko looked at him in surprise. When she had met him outside this man appeared as tame as Yashiro and now she was scared.

"Sorry," Kyoko attempted to knee him but the man pulled away, grabbing her by the hair and shoving her into a supply closet. Kyoko attempted to scream but there were two other men with him now and Kyoko could see a staircase which led into a lighted basement. What was going on here?

Kyoko felt herself lifted in the air and saw that the man who had appeared so kind and gentle wasn't holding her anymore and instead two men who had appeared from the shadows were. As she was taken down the stairs she noticed an extensive set of different weapons, she saw a chemistry station where a man was working, she saw fire and flames and she saw cages with skeletons and corpses in them.

Where was she?

"I was saying," the first man said as he sat in a chair in the middle of the room and Kyoko was forced to kneel before him, "You are awfully pretty, if only we weren't related."

Kyoko's eyes widened and before she knew it they had attached a shock collar around her throat and she was still being forced to kneel in front of him.

"You must have many questions to ask me," the man before her asked her and Kyoko stared at him. How did someone who looked like _this_ effectively become the head of one of the branches of the Yakuza. True, the strength that he had held her with didn't match up either, but _this_ was the scary boss?

"I don't care about those questions. I don't care about who you are or what you've done. I want to know why you hate Kuon, what has Kuon Hizuri ever done to you?" she asked and the man before her laughed.

"Nothing, that's truly the joy of it. By himself that kid may have one heck of an interesting past but he's not my target," the man said and Kyoko's eyes widened. "I mean, for the most part, his part of the story is nearly complete. Whether he died or not was going to depend on the cards that the fate played, what I was guaranteeing on was that you would be here. You would come to stand up for the one you love. Shame your mother was too spineless to do so."

Kyoko looked down, she felt herself stabbed in the heart as she thought about the man she loved more than anything. He was her prince. "So, you have me. You can leave him alone. You have me here ready to speak to you, to talk to you. Leave him alone and I'll talk."

"That will take all the fun of it away for me," her dad smiled and Kyoko could see that there was twenty years of darkness in his eyes. "You see, even though you have the dark powers that I seek, you still are not prepared to give up everything in your being. Love is such a…well it's such a frivolous emotion."

"Leave Kuon out of it and I'll say whatever you want me to say," Kyoko argued but she saw the way the man didn't look like he cared about her words.

"I want to see you again," he said, "I have a rather interesting proposition for you, but I will give you some advice. You say you love that man, that Kuon Hizuri, the man who beat up so many men in America that I was both impressed and disgusted by his twisted soul as well as his talented body. He would make a great bodyguard for myself if I used a drug that made him forget who he was. Those do exist, you know."

"Your advice?" Kyoko asked.

"Well, love, although I have great distaste for it, well it's your love that is saving him. It is my belief that without your love and your kindness, his soul would eat away at itself and he would become a twisted freak again," Kyoko flinched at those words, her own grudges starting to appear at the insult. "However, his love for you…well his love for you is what is going to be his greatest mistake so if you really want to save him, you'll make sure that he falls _out_ of love with you."

Kyoko looked at her father. She knew that that wouldn't happen easily and she never wanted it to happen. She never wanted to see anything but love in those emerald eyes. She didn't want to never be held by him again.

"If you do that, I guess I can leave him alone," he shrugged and Kyoko took a deep breath in. Maybe it was worth hurting him now so that he wouldn't be hurt later. "I wish to speak to you tomorrow morning. Come back here at six."

Kyoko looked at him and nodded, "I will be back," she said wanting to agree to anything that would keep Kuon safe.

"I look forward to it," her father smiled at her coldly and Kyoko felt sick that she was even related to him.

…

…

As Kyoko entered the safe house, her brain was still scrambling to come up with a plan that would stop Kuon from showing that he loved her as much as he did. Maybe they could create some type of scenario that wouldn't hurt either of them too badly. She just needed to slip into the bedroom and look at him and she could decide what to do.

No such luck.

As she came into the house, she saw Kuon come over to see her with that blinding smile on his face. "You're back late," he said to her, "Did everything go alright with your work. I hate to think that I'm keeping you from -"

"I've been with Sho," she lied as Kuon looked at her confused, "He's given me a lot to think about."

"That's nice," Kuon said as he leaned down to look in her eyes and saw that she avoided eye contact with him. "I was thinking of permanently changing my hair back to blond or would that be an inconvenience for you since I'd look more like him."

"I want to be with Sho!" Kyoko said as she tried to make eye contact with him. "I don't love you, Kuon. I don't want this stupid ring," she said as she took it off her finger and threw it on the ground. Kuon looked at it and blinked.

"That's nice to hear," he continued to smile to her, acting as if what she had just said and done didn't affect him.

"It's true, I feel sick when I look at you. You're a monster, those pictures of - those pictures of when you were fifteen, they give me nightmares. I don't trust you not to turn into a mixed-breed freak." Kyoko felt her heart hurt as she said this to him. She knew he had trouble with those words but she had to use them anyway. She felt his cheek brush her hair as he leaned in again and whispered to her.

"Do I get to give you a 'no good' because you're acting isn't believable right now," he told her as Kyoko felt tears in her eyes.

"You're nothing but a murderer and I'm sick of pretending that I can even stand you because I want to use your fame and your money. You make me scared when you're around. You act as if you're a good guy but you're a freak and a murderer who killed your best friend," she said and Kuon sighed.

"Kyoko, I don't understand why you're acting this way, but I wish you luck with your acting test," he shrugged. "If I'm asleep when you are ready to come to bed, it's okay to wake me up if you want to talk. I'm always here if you want to talk about what happened tonight."

Kyoko looked at the ring on the floor and when she thought that Kuon wasn't looking, she picked it up again. She looked up to see Kuon smiling at her with an 'I told you so' expression.

"Again, you seem to need some time alone right now, but wake me up if you need to talk," he told her and Kyoko stared at the floor. Why did he always see right through her?

…..

…..

Kyoko frowned. She hadn't been successful at all with Kuon and he had even asked her if they could make breakfast together. She had fallen asleep on the sofa, but he still asked her how she had slept, he had still held her close and used his arms to keep her warm. Why did he have to love her so much?

As she knelt down in front of her father again, she challenged him with her eyes. "So, I am here in front of you," she told him as she watched the person with the chemicals seem to finish mixing something and pour it into a bottle. She wondered what it was and how much her father wanted for it, "You told me that you wanted me to complete a task for you."

"I do," the man smiled before a handsome man who looked like part of an Italian mafia family stepped out from the darkness. "I'm trying to build a bigger family. You will marry Gieuseppe Donatello,"

"I am pleased to meet you, Mogami-san," the man said with a Tokyo accent as he bowed like a prince to her.

Kyoko scoffed at this and she had a fire burning in her eyes. "You already acknowledged my love for Kuon Hizuri. I'm not going to marry another man whilst Kuon exists. Even in the spiritual realm, my heart belongs to -"

"You should stop now, my sons have something to show you," the man said and Kyoko heard a thud and someone yelling and struggling against five men. Kyoko's eyes widened to see the brunette there with his gorgeous emerald eyes.

"Kuon!" she yelled seeing the bruises on his body as well as the cuts and other wounds, some of them would most definitely leave scars. "Kuon!" She turned to her father, wide-eyed, "Leave him alone! He hasn't done anything to you!" she screamed as she saw him attempting to push through. He looked drained of energy but he still struggled enough for them to try to taser him to stop him from moving.

He couldn't get up, the wounds were too much.

She watched desperately as one of the men got up, picked up a chain, and whipped him over the spine with it. He fell to the ground and Kyoko tried to rush over to him. Her grudges appearing.

Why was he here? Well, she knew the answer. She knew that she had acted strangely the previous night. She knew that he loved her enough to want to protect her from all of the dangers in the world. He managed to use his teeth to rip the cloth from off of his face and looked her way.

There was so much damage, so much pain that he was trying to endure.

"Kyoko! Don't worry about me! Know that I love you! I'll always love you! I'm so sorry, my princess," he said.

"He's awfully loyal to follow you here," her father laughed, "almost like your own little puppy dog, following you so obediently. Of course, soon you'll see him the way that I see this murderous creep."

Kyoko felt a couple of hands force her down and she knew that even with all of her anger fueling her, she wouldn't be able to get to him. As she was pushed onto the ground, she saw the man who had been at the lab table stand up and walk over to the man she already felt was her husband. She watched as his mouth was pried open and he was forced to swallow whatever poison was in that bottle.

"KUUUONN!" she screamed desperately before something happened to him that seemed as if it would only happen in a supernatural fantasy novel, the type that included exploding werewolves and sparkly vampires.

"What are you doing to him!?" Kyoko asked her father desperately, tears clouding her vision. "What are you doing to his body!?"

 **End of Chapter Seven**

 **So, I had to go ahead and add some fantasy elements in somewhere. I hope you're not too disappointed and thank you for reading.**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Six**

Kris, ktoll9, and paulagato


	8. Chapter 8 - Why There's A Cat

**AN:** What I really have only learned about concussions from _having_ a concussion is the amount of pain and irritation that goes on inside your head. I've suffered from migraines and I've had panic attacks and fainted before but this is so much worse. One of the symptoms that is also there is that this is the only fic that I want to write so thank you for giving me your patience and understanding.

 **Chapter Eight – Why There's a Cat**

Kyoko didn't remember what had happened after she had seen Kuon's body distort in a way she hadn't seen a human body move before. She could only imagine things like the elephant man or a mutated animal. Kuon was most likely dead, the only thing that was stopping her from thinking so was that they hadn't kept her awake to see his corpse and to watch him die. Wouldn't that bring them the _biggest_ satisfaction?

As Kyoko woke up, she felt that there was something on top of her and that that was keeping her warm, her eyes widened as she saw Kuon's coat dumped over her as she lay in the side alley somewhere in Tokyo. Had they drugged her and then put her here? Was this supposed to be covering up any evidence?

She took hold of the sleeve before feeling something butting against her head. She looked up to see a blond tabby cat trying to nuzzle her. This was great. There was a stray cat opposite her and she looked like some homeless lady, not someone for the front cover as a professional actress. "Kuon, where are you?" she asked as the kitten started mewing at her. "Sorry, not much of a pet person," she attempted to tell the kitten who appeared to be reaching for something in the pocket of Kuon's coat. "Are you a little thief?" she asked before petting the kitten.

Something looked so familiar about the blond coat, the way the green eyes shone. She must be seeing Kuon in everything.

Kyoko started to fold Kuon's coat and was surprised at how much was left inside. His keys, his wallet, his phone, his key cards. She rolled her eyes, of course he would think he'd make it out of there without anyone being able to catch him. As sweet and heroic as he was, he was a little silly with his over confidence.

"Kuon, please be okay," she whispered with tears in her eyes. She looked at the cat. "Look, I don't have any food for you or any -" she saw the kitten take Kuon's wallet and pulled out a photograph with the tiny teeth.

"Are you seriously trying to steal from my possibly dead fiancé?" she asked as she looked at the picture in the kitten's mouth. It was a photograph of her with Kuon. "Nice try, but I don't think that Kuon would be happy with you trying to play with that," she said. She reached out to take it but the cat tapped its paw on Kuon's image and then tried to meow to her.

"Yes, he's very handsome. See in this picture, I know he's Kuon but everyone else thought he was Ren Tsuruga," Kyoko looked down, was she seriously trying to have a conversation with a kitten!?

As Kyoko sat, she heard a few footsteps near her and she looked back to the man who she had been introduced to as a man that someone wanted her to marry. Even if Kuon was dead, which she hoped with her whole heart that he wasn't, she wasn't going to marry someone else. Kuon was her one.

She blinked as she saw the cat dart away and go and hide behind a box. This Italian didn't look so intimidating.

"Mogami-san, it's nice to see you again," he smiled before bowing to her. "Call me Joey."

Kyoko frowned. She knew she looked like a stubborn child, but she wasn't ready to go anywhere near this man. "So, it wasn't you who dumped me here. Nice choice of area," she said as she got up quickly. She placed Kuon's personal items in her own bag and put the coat around her shoulders. "So, do I get to play twenty questions to find out what happened to my fiancé or are you going to just -"

"Cats," Joey said as he looked around the area, "I'm not really a fan of cats."

"I predict that they aren't fans of you," Kyoko argued back. "I know that you want to continue the family ties, but I don't want that. I'm not some prize to be won or tool to be bargained with. I am in love with the man who proposed to me, the first man to show me unwavering and unconditional love. Even if you monsters have kill-"

"Have you seen a cat around here with the most enchanting emerald eyes?" Joey asked and Kyoko made sure not to look in the direction that the kitten had just escaped in. She froze as she heard that word, was that how people described the color of a cat's eyes.

"Why…are you so concerned with this cat?" Kyoko asked him as she watched him seem to smell the area as if searching for the scent of a cat. She closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't know what this had to do with anything but she didn't want to give the kitten away. That kitten belonged to somebody.

"Well, I don't like cats," Joey said as he took her hand, "I assume you don't like them either. They're filthy creatures who murder the innocent, sometimes their closest friends."

Kyoko made sure that the surprise wasn't on her face when she heard him say this. She hadn't seen Kuon's body after she had blacked out and she definitely hadn't seen his corpse. The cat that she had seen had been a thief but why had he taken out that photograph and then tried to show her it. He had been very selective and knew exactly where it was.

Kyoko shrugged, "I'm not really that into animals and that includes you," she said before looking away. "I have to go and search for my husband. I'm assuming that you attempting to court me might be to your advantage but my heart belongs to somebody else so unless you want me to get the authorities."

"I'll take the hint," Joey said before forcing her hand to his lips, "Until next time, my precious flower," he said before seeming to leave. Kyoko felt lucky that he had left so quickly but it couldn't stop the way that her heart felt as if it was inside of her throat.

She looked at the box and then looked around. She didn't know what to say but was it too much of a coincidence? She stepped to the box and turned it to see the little kitten shaking in fear. "Hi, sweetheart," she whispered knowing that he might not believe her and that she would appear crazy to others. "Hey," she reached out to the blond kitten.

She watched as the kitten just stared at her. The emerald eyes were the same shade and she could see them turn to a burnt sienna in the light. She reached out and petted him behind the ear. "Hi, Corn," she whispered as she saw how hopeful he became. "Oh, my sweet prince, come here," she said as she watched the kitten crawl towards her.

She picked him up carefully, sliding one hand under his bottom and the other she had on his back with a thumb against his furry chest. She brought him to her chest and heard the purrs as he seemed to cling to her. He was so tiny and so adorable. She felt tears in her eyes as she gently ran her thumb up and down his back.

"I am so sorry sweetheart," she whispered as she pressed soft kissed between his two pointy ears. "I am so sorry," she sobbed again knowing how horrible this was for him. "Did you crawl into one of the pockets?" she asked as the kitten mewed and nodded his head. "You're always so smart."

"Is he though?" Kyoko heard the weak voice of her father ask her and Kyoko turned. She looked at the little kitten who her father had changed Kuon into and slipped him under her shirt, pressing him into one of the cups of her bra. "I think that cats are inconvenient. They are pitiful, able to be hurt by other animals, mewing for their mother as if expecting them to come. You know that feeling don't you. The way that cats are abandoned, are rated second to dogs, their want for their mother."

"Even as a kitten, Kuon has a mother who loves him and a mother who would never turn him away for being different. He has a family who have welcomed me in as a member of their household. Don't you dare try to talk about the Hizuris as if you know them," Kyoko said. The only thing she cared about was keeping Kuon safe. At least he was alive.

"You understand that you've put him in a dangerous position for yourself, it might even encourage bestiality," her father smirked at her and Kyoko glared at him.

"You think that Kuon hasn't touched my breasts? hasn't run his finger over them? kissed them?" she laughed and looked aside. "No wonder you seem to be trying to compensate, you're nothing more than a beginner at sex. You're no match for him."

"You do understand that he's a kitten? He's small and useless. You could marry Gieuseppe, be a part of a powerful family. If you do that, well then I'll be able to turn this little kitten into the human actor again," he said as he reached a hand out as if to touch Kuon but Kyoko smacked his hand away.

"You've just told me something very important," she said with a cold grin, a couple of her inner grudges coming out and one of them winding its way around her father's throat. "You've just told me that there is a cure and I'm not going to do it your way. You might think your family is powerful but with Takarada-sama and the Hizuri family working against you. Well, we'll find your little bargaining chip."

Kyoko saw her father crash onto his knees and she looked away from him. Doing up a few buttons on the coat that was too big for her, she ran away and took Kuon out, looking at him and trying to smooth down his fur. "I promise that I'll find that cure for you," she told him as she saw the innocent look on his furry face. "I promise that I won't leave you. It's impossible for me to love anyone else. You're Kuon," she said as the kitten mewed again.

"You're a cat, but you're also my prince Kuon."

…..

…..

"I am soooo sorry," Kyoko said as she sank into a dogeza in front of the two people she still believed would one day be her in-laws. She closed her eyes as she saw them staring at her as if trying to figure out what was going on. She stayed in that position for a while knowing there was no way that she could truly be forgiven.

She saw Julie get down on the ground opposite her and she looked up seeing the kitten trying to brush his cheek against hers. She blinked back tears as she saw him sit and tilt his head to the side showing his concern for her. Kyoko couldn't blink through the tears enough to see him fully.

"Kyoko, I don't understand how this happened," Julie said as she looked at the cat who seemed to be searching around for something. "I don't know what you're trying to tell me. Why do you have a kitten with you and where's Kuon?"

"Kuon is…" Kyoko said as she looked at the kitten. Was it right for her to tell Julie what had happened and where her son was trapped? She saw Kuon jump onto the sofa and then grab a little heart shaped photo frame that he had bought her when she had moved in with him. It was a picture of her facing the camera and Kuon with his arms around her so protectively and with so much love in his expression. On the bottom of the heart were the words 'I love you'. He placed it in front of her.

"Thank you, sweetheart," she said as she picked him up again and held him to her heart. "They turned Kuon into a kitten. I don't know how they did it but he's here. This is Kuon," she said and the kitten mewed, nodding his head to the words.

"The cat…" Julie said before putting a hand over her mouth. She noticed Kuu grab a jacket and turn away from his family. "Oh my poor baby," she whispered as she reached out to the kitten. She looked up at Kuu as she saw how depressed and hurt he was by this. She closed her eyes. "Don't you dare leave him, Kuu Hizuri. Don't you dare run away from him! He wouldn't give up on you!"

Kuu looked at Julie sadly. "I'm not giving up on him, I'm…I have to go somewhere. Please don't ask," he said and Julie shook as she worried about her baby boy. She nodded weakly, it wasn't easy to argue with her husband. She saw him walk out the door and her heart shattered, it was as if he was avoiding Kuon now that someone had stripped his humanity from him.

What she didn't know was that Kuu was going directly to the closest pet shop to buy anything and everything that a small kitten might need. That was the love he had for his son no matter what form he was in.

 **End of Chapter Eight**

 **Thank you so much for reading. I know this chapter was pretty out there. Hope you don't mind the twist too much. Yes, there is a cure.**

 **There will be memories of a human Kuon and I promise he won't be a cat for (what I feel) too long**

 **Thank you reviewers Chapter Seven**

Crazy4Animation, Kris, ktoll9, and paulagato


	9. Chapter 9 - What Family Means

**AN:** Hope you're enjoying this. I'm almost at the point where I can start adding some more fics to my writing list. I think I might try to update The Little Prince twice a week as well as writing More Like a Phoenix (and less like a wren). – actually that's the full title -. Well I hope you enjoy, reviews are always treasured.

 **Chapter Nine – What Family Means**

Saena sighed as she walked over to the office where Todoh was usually. She hated to admit that she had any form of weakness and after what she had been through with that loser who had impregnated her with the reminder of her greatest mistake in judgment, she was starting to fall in love again. She walked over to the papers on his desk and saw that there were pictures of that jerk but twenty years older. He had really tracked him down? Why wouldn't he share this with her?

Well, she had to admit that she knew _why_ he wasn't sharing this information with her.

He cared about her and wanted to protect her and this was after she had decided that men weren't worth the hassle. She shuffled through the papers and then found a folder filled with pictures and dates of her daughter and that man who had been idiotic enough to propose to her.

Those pictures of her daughter at sixteen were ones that she could relate with but this pathetic creature who was holding onto a man's arm, who held his hand, who he had kissed passionately without knowing paparazzi were there. She didn't understand _those_ pictures. Maybe her daughter was being used by this man. Maybe that's how it all made sense to her.

"She should have thought more about her career, stupid fool" she said but as she looked over at Todoh's name plate she had a feeling of envy. She shook her head. Why should she feel jealous of love like this, they were actors, part of it had to be from that. The way that she and Todoh were together and were respectful enough to not make a show of it. _That_ was real love.

"Is that so, maybe you've been saying the same thing about me," she heard a man say to her as he smiled coldly. Saena froze as she turned to him. Those cold eyes were something that she hadn't ever expected on that face. She whipped out her phone and immediately dialed the emergency number.

This man was never going to take her down so easily.

"I've paid our daughter a little visit," he told her casually as Saena noticed two men also entering the office so that it would be hard for her to escape. "You know, little girls they love animals. I thought I'd do something right as her father and give her her own pet."

"Wow, how caring you are," Saena told him, "I'm surprised with your lack of experience, your sperm ever had a chance," she said as she lifted her chin. "Of course, she is an animal herself."

"I see how highly you think of me," he said as he approached her. "Maybe if you had told me that I had a -"

"Well wise guy," Saena said coldly as she refused to let the now five men in the room intimidate her, "How was I ever supposed to do that without knowing your real name?"

"Boys," the man smiled and started to walk out of the room, leaving his "sons" to finish that morning's job.

…..

…..

Kyoko looked at the blanket that the small blond tabby cat Kuon was sleeping on. He didn't look the most comfortable and it broke Kyoko's heart as she saw him there. He was trying to keep his distance from her and he was trying to act as if everything was okay. He had even been able to wrap his very expressive tail around his back leg.

She knew that he wanted to be with her, she could see the love and desire in his eyes. However, he still was Kuon and he was always respectful of her. Even when he had teased her as Ren Tsuruga, he had always calculated the risk and everyone respected her because _he_ respected her.

He was a little kitten but that was temporary. Inside he was still her Kuon.

She sighed and grabbed her own blanket before sitting down next to him on the floor. It was early evening and she knew that he was probably hungry. She didn't know what to feed him and she had been looking that information up. Everything said that feeding him cat food was best – the kind designed for young kittens – but that seemed more than disrespectful.

She closed her eyes before reaching out for him. She gently ran her fingers through his fur and felt the warmth of his body. She smiled softly as she saw him blink and then yawn whilst stretching. He was acting just like a cat. Could the Kuon part possibly have left him?

"Hi," Kyoko smiled as he blinked at her, "I didn't mean to wake you up. You should come and be in the bed with me."

Kuon stared at her puzzled before shaking his head.

"I didn't mean that you had to be in the bed _with_ me but I want you beside me," she said as she watched him turn so that he was facing her. She reached out to pet him again. "Come here," she said as she picked him up and set him on her lap. "I'm sure that this is very intimidating," she said weakly as she looked around the room.

Kuon curled up in her lap and gave a heavy sigh.

"Can you…understand me?" she asked and the little cat nodded his head. "So, all of these words that I'm saying, you understand me?" she said and Kuon sat up and turned to look at her before nodding. "So, if I told you to stand over there," she pointed and Kuon seemed to roll his eyes before going and standing exactly where she pointed.

"And if I told you to try to stand on one leg?" she asked. She watched as Kuon looked around and then shuffled so that he was next to the wall. Using it for balance, he managed to push his two front paws onto the wall and then lifted one paw off of the ground. He held that position for a few moments before he tumbled and gave a heavy sigh again.

"Okay, that's enough of that," Kyoko said as she picked him up again and brought him over to the bed. She smoothed down the fur which was a little dusty due to his tumble. "You know, you really are a gorgeous kitten," she said as he looked at her with a slightly irritated expression.

"I think that father just needs some time to figure this out for himself, I mean, his son's a cat," Kyoko tried to tell the man she loved as she ran her fingers across his back. She froze as she heard the sound of the door getting unlocked and saw Kuon run out without her. "Kuon!" she called out not wanting for this to be an intruder who could hurt her helpless feline fiancé.

Kyoko caught Kuon in her arms and pressed him to her chest, silently apologizing for taking advantage of his smaller size which allowed her to do this. She heard him mewing as he looked up at her and she closed her eyes. When the tears started slipping down her cheeks, Kuon gave up on the mewing and instead cuddled closer to her.

Fortunately, it was Kuu who entered the house with a number of bags and boxes. Kyoko tilted her head t to the side and noticed that they were all from a well-known pet shop. Is that why he had left? Had he wanted to make sure that he could provide for his son?

She could see things like food, the nicest litter box one could imagine, a cat tower, a couple of scratching posts. She froze. Had Kuu gone out to take care of this for them so that she and Julie could stay with Kuon?

"I think I've got everything that the shop associate said," he told them as he also put down a couple of books on how to take care of kittens. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before looking up at Kyoko and his son. "I thought that he needed at least some of these things."

Kyoko smiled as she tried to blink back her tears. She set Kuon down on the ground and the little kitten ran up to his father and sat in front of him. He meowed up and Kuu very gently picked him up. He held the cat with such love and affection and anyone could see how much he still loved his son.

"Hey," he said as he saw the kitten looking at him nervously, "Listen to me, okay?" he said before looking back at Kyoko who nodded.

"He's in there, Kuu. He can understand every single word you tell him."

"Then I want you to listen to me," he told the cat as he held him so that they could look into each other's eyes. "You are my son and I love you," he saw the cat freeze and smiled again. "You are Kuon Hizuri. You are my son and I love you. Understand?" he asked and the kitten nodded nervously.

Kuu brought Kuon to his shoulder and stroked him very gently.

"Now, I don't want you to be angry at me for buying these items. I won't get mad if you don't use them but I wanted you to have things that made you feel like there are people who care about you. You're a man inside of a kitten's body, we all know this," he said as he went back to the sofa and sat down with Kuon on his lap, the kitten still watching his father. "I'm treating this the same as you getting a cold and acting delirious because I know we'll find the cure to get you back but for however long you're this way, we don't love you any less. You are still our Kuon just as you are still Kyoko's Kuon."

Kyoko smiled as she started to unpack the bags and saw Kuu's guilty expression. He hadn't meant for them to do the hard work. "Wow, Father," she grinned, "You got a lot of great items. It makes me think that when Kuon's his normal self, the two of us should adopt a cat."

Kuon tilted his head to the side as he watched them but he felt more comfortable on his father's lap. He curled up and gently let his tail tap his dad's leg. Kuu continued to stroke him gently and lovingly. He just wished that there were better circumstances for his loved ones.

Once everything had been taken out, Kyoko picked up a bird toy that looked like a wren and brought it over to them. She smiled as she saw Kuon reach out with his paw and bring the bird into his body. She stroked the kitten again before going over to the TV.

"There's something that I really want to watch," she told them and grinned to Kuon, "It's a certain episode of Dark Moon, is that okay?"

Kuon nodded before looking up at his father as if asking him.

"Yes, I always prefer the Katsuki in Dark Moon," he grinned as he rubbed Kuon behind the ear. "He was much more talented than Tsukigo Mori."

Kuon rolled his eyes but cuddled closer to his father, he wondered which episode of the drama Kyoko was intending to play for them. He smiled and gave some uncontrolled purrs as he noticed that this was the episode where he had improvised and they had left the Cat Steps in.

…..

…..

Half way through the episode, Kuu heard his phone ring and as he looked at it, his eyes widened with concern. He didn't know whether to tell Kyoko about the name that had appeared on his unlisted number: Mogami Saena. This woman had never called him before and she had no idea how she had found his number. It was a good thing for caller ID.

"Kyoko, can I move him over to you?" Kuu asked since the kitten Kuon had fallen asleep on his lap. Kyoko looked at him confused before nodding. She saw Kuon's little eyes open for a moment before he yawned and went back to sleep. She lovingly pressed him to her chest and let him sleep with his head and front paws on her shoulder.

"Love you," she whispered to him as she saw the human Ren Tsuruga on the screen. She didn't want to admit the pain in her heart as she watched him interact with Itsumi Momose. She wondered if he would ever interact with her like that again. Well at least he wasn't dead.

Out in the hallway, Kuu pressed the accept call button and tried to calm himself. "Hello, this is Hizuri Kuu. How did you get this number?"

"Mogami Saena and if you really have to ask that, I can tell why you're an actor instead of something that requires more intelligence," she said as Kuu's mouth dropped open but he had to remember this was the mother that always gave his daughter such a pained expression.

"Kyoko's mother, is this concerning her?" Kuu said as he went over to the stairs. This seemed a conversation that he would want to sit down for. "How can I help regar-"

"I'm not calling about that girl," Saena said, "I'm calling about your older and much smaller child," she said as if she knew and Kuu felt his veins run cold. He closed his eyes and looked over at the cat items he had bought. Did she know what had happened?

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean. My son is quite tall," he tried to argue with her and Saena gave a heavy sigh.

"Maybe in his human form, or maybe his litter box makes him look bigger. I'd hate for his height to be exaggerated because his father is wearing rose colored glasses," Saena said and Kuu's back straightened and stiffened. How could she know?

"Why have you contacted me?" he asked firmly. "Again, I repeat that this is an unlisted number which means that you must have gone through some trouble to find it. I'd like to know why."

"If you had to choose one of your children to protect then which one would it be? If it's that girl then I would advise you to take that kitten to the nearest non-kill shelter," Saena said coldly and Kuu felt his anger boil at that but he had to try to speak calmly.

"How dare you talk about him like that! How do you know that he isn't -" he asked feeling terrible for saying that but even if he was a kitten, Kuon was his biological son. Kuon would always be placed first between the two of them. He had raised Kuon up until his teenage years. Kuon was _his_ son, _their_ son.

"If you want to save him you'll keep him close to _you_ ," Saena told him. "Imagine how reckless that girl was to get him into a situation like this. Imagine if she did something reckless again which led to the death of an animal." As she said this Kuu felt chills over his body. He hated being put in this position and he had been trying his hardest to not blame Kyoko but his son was so important to him.

"What do you want?" Kuu asked in a firm, no-nonsense tone.

"I want you to keep a close watch on that girl. Do you think that she wouldn't go against you? Do you think that she wouldn't let the Hizuri name die. I'm sure that you're not a fan of combing a kitten or cleaning a litterbox. I bet you're thinking that you'd do anything for your child but would she?"

Kuu looked at the carpeted floor before him. He didn't want to admit that this woman was getting into his head. He didn't want to admit that she was psychologically trying to take advantage of him. He froze before ending the call without even saying goodbye to her and walked over to the living room. He looked at Kyoko and saw Kuon so peacefully on her shoulder.

"Can I –" Kuu said as he reached a hand out to Kyoko. "May I hold him again? I'd like to talk to him alone," he said as Kyoko looked up at him.

"Yes, of course. I think he's very tired after what he's -" Kyoko said but Kuu's body was shaking.

"He's my child, Kyoko. I can take care of him," he said as Julie looked at him. He wasn't acting his normal, happy Kuu self. She saw Kyoko gently give Kuon to Kuu who was waking up and looking around confused. Kuu held him gently and yet very protectively.

"I've got you," he said as Kuon blinked up at him and mewed. "Come on, I need to talk to you," he said as the cat looked at him nervously. "What did I tell you before?" Kuu asked as the kitten stared up at him nervously. "You are my son and I love you." As he left the room, he felt himself fight back his own tears and went to the study to sit down with his little boy.

Was Kyoko really the cause of this?

 **End of Chapter Nine**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you Reviewers of Chapter Eight**

Crazy4Animation, Kris, ktoll9, paulagato


	10. Chapter 10 - Who Kuon Is

**AN:** There's a new twist introduced in this chapter that I hope will be interesting and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

 **Chapter Ten – Who Kuon Is**

Kuon looked up at his father confused as Kuu brought him to sit down in another room of the house. He wasn't sure why his dad wanted to talk to him. Was it about how disappointing he already was. He had been a cat for less than a day, he shouldn't have been able to screw this up so fast.

Kuu held him up so that the two of them could look at one another. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you," he said as the kitten tilted his head to the side. "I know that I most likely couldn't have done anything but as a father, that's the type of thing you say to your child. You are still my son, Kuon." He said to the ball of fluff, "We'll find a way to get you back. I will never give up on you and I will never stop loving you."

Kuon continued to stare at him and then pushed his head against his dad's chest affectionately.

"So, why a kitten, that's the question," he said as he looked at Kuon as he put him on his lap, Kuon continuing to stare up at him. "Do you think it's a teasing thing? Every little girl needs a kitten to dress up?" he asked as he saw the cat do the equivalent of an eyebrow raise. "Something about acting? That all cats look the same," he saw Kuon give an eye roll and smiled.

"Maybe that cats are known as being aloof and not needing others or maybe because animals are seen as lower beings," he said before frowning. "Now, I really feel like I should question the benefits of being a vegetarian." Kuu let his hand run down his son's back before thinking again. "Why not something else though? If that man really thinks that he can separate you and Kyoko why not -" Kuu thought about it.

He could imagine a dog being useful in a fight or a bird or even a rat. In a fight even an adult cat could be of some use. A kitten however, a small and innocent creature could be easy to defeat and Kuon was extremely protective. He was also rash and if Kyoko was getting hurt he'd try to protect her. Was that the reason why it was a kitten and not another type of animal or even monster?

"Kuon, you're my son and I will always love you unconditionally, but right now I am asking you to take a back seat in Kyoko's life," he said as Kuon looked at him surprised by that request. "Do you think that -" he saw the kitten shake his head and stare up at him as if he had just made a proposition for something more terrible. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't be together but if she's in trouble then I don't think you're well equipped to save her right now."

Kuon shook his head again, his eyes only showing how protective he was of Kyoko and the love that they still shared. If these people wanted to get to Kyoko, then Kuon was going to protect her but at this point he offered no protection. He was a danger to himself because of Kyoko even when she didn't want him to be.

Before Kuu had said another word though, Kuon had jumped down and was on his way to be with Kyoko again. As he got to the room where she was, he sat by the doorway and looked at her. He loved her. He would always love her, no matter what.

When Kyoko noticed that he was there, she stood and went over to the cat who meowed up at her. "Hey, sweetheart," she smiled as she brought the kitten to her chest. "You have a good chat with your dad?" she asked. Kuon didn't answer but his tail wrapped around her arm as he tried to tell her how much he loved her.

Kyoko hugged him close, "I love you," she told him before looking to Julie. "I need to talk to him as well," she said as Kuon snuggled closer to her.

…

…

Kyoko sat down on their bed and let her finger go through Kuon's yellow and white fur. She looked at him as he seemed to snuggle closer to her and sighed. "I love you," she whispered to him as she placed a soft kiss between his ears. "Sweetheart, I wish you could tell me why you're so upset?" she said to him as she heard the soft mews.

He was most likely upset because he was a cat. He had tried to protect her by following her when she had acted strangely and this was the punishment that he got. He had always tried to help her. He was a cat now because he wouldn't be able to help her. She would have to do this by herself and protect him.

"Corn, I'm so sorry that you're a kitten," she whispered as she made attempts to hide her pain from him. She stroked his head as he looked at her. "I still love you," she told him. "I know that there's a way to bring you back to your human form and though I can't be intimate with you in this form, it doesn't keep me from loving you." She cuddled him close and then saw his guilty expression.

"What is it?" she asked as she placed a finger on his furry chin, being mindful of his whiskers. "Honey, what is it?" she saw him squirm a little and then placed him down. He ran out of the room and she followed him to the litter box. She sighed as she pressed her back against the wall.

She had to take this slowly and make sure he didn't feel guilty or humiliated about any of this. She heard the sound of the litter being moved around and closed her eyes. That part must feel especially bad for him, not being able to use the toilet as he was used to. She looked at him as he came out and looked at her extremely anxiously.

She took a few steps over to him and pet his head again. "It's okay, we'll take this slowly. It's okay," she told him making a note to clean the box when he was asleep. She didn't want him to feel even more embarrassed.

Grabbing a stick with a little ball at the end of the string attached to it, she dangled it in front of Kuon who seemed to twitch as he watched it. Kyoko knew that this was her fiancé but so many of his actions were based on feline instinct now. "It's okay, we can play," she told him. Kuon looked at her worried with questioning eyes to ask if it was really okay for them to do that and she nodded. "It'll make me happy," she told him before seeing him reach out and tap the ball.

She didn't know how it worked inside of his mind but she knew that she would do anything to bring him back to the man that she intended to marry. She tried to blink away tears as she played with him. She just hoped that the humanity in him wasn't going to disappear. Even if that happened though and he was no longer the Kuon she knew, she would take care of him and protect him.

Whatever happened to him, she was going to be there beside him.

She just hoped that he would do the same.

…

…

Kyoko stepped into LME the following day. She needed to discuss these things with the president and see if there was a way that he could use his power and connections to find the magic that would bring Kuon back to a human form. She was carrying a medium sized bag which had a few things for her, but the most important thing in her bag was Kuon.

She sat down on a bench as she tried to pretend to be sorting things out in the bag, but she was stroking his fur and checking on him instead. She smiled as he seemed to rub his head against her open hand. "I love you," she whispered, "but you have to be careful. Promise me that you won't come out of the bag without my okaying it no matter what. We have to make sure that you're protected."

She heard Kuon meow up at her as he nodded and she wished that they had found a better way for the two of them to communicate with one another. She sighed and let her fingers run against his fur. "I love you," she said again before closing her bag and sat for a while trying to think of her next move.

It was at this time that she saw something that she thought she would only see in her nightmare.

Surrounded by different staff members and junior actors was a very close looking Ren Tsuruga. She looked down at the bag she had zipped three-quarters of the way and then at the man opposite her. She felt chills throughout her body. She studied him closely. He was nearly two inches shorter than Kuon's human form was. His hairline was slightly off making his forehead quarter of an inch longer. His eyes weren't the right distance apart. The ratio between his arms and legs was off. His butt wasn't as tight or eye-catching as her fiance's, but to an untrained eye he looked so much like him.

It both disturbed her and annoyed her.

This was one of her father's tricks. Perhaps he had thought that the feline Kuon hadn't found her or had been killed and this was one way of making her think that the man she loved was alive and was coming to find her. She didn't like it at all and so she moved her bag closer to her. "Don't come out," she whispered before seeing the Ren impersonation approach her.

"Hello, princess," the man said and Kyoko felt the bag shuffle a little bit. "I've been looking for you."

Kyoko frowned. Despite getting the words right and sounding like Kuon in that way, the pitch was too high. Kyoko was now glad that she had spent so much time focusing on the accuracy of the dolls. She might have even believed this imposter and that he had a sore throat. She wasn't going to be fooled so easily.

"Hi, sweetheart," she said slowly though still attempting to seem natural, "I'm afraid that I have to run off again," she said before standing up and the man looked at her.

"Did I do something to hurt you? I know that I shouldn't have left you with your father but after they had hurt me like that -" he told her and Kyoko sighed.

"It's an important meeting that I've set up with the president. I thought you had more injuries, it's good to see you looking so lively -" she said before he grabbed her arm.

"Can't I join you?" he asked her, "you know that Takarada-san likes me."

Kyoko laughed inside her head at how he had said that. The phrasing that _Kuon_ typically used was 'boss'. She tried to pull away but found the man to be stronger than her and he kissed her on the lips. Kyoko tried not to let the disgust show on her face.

"I'm sorry, I really have to get going," she said to him before forcing her arm away and leaving. As she got into the elevator though, she found that the tears were running down her cheeks and so turned away from the other riders. She opened the bag slightly as she looked at the kitten. "I am so sorry," she whispered to him as Kuon nodded and looked at her with concern in his eyes.

Kyoko shivered as she thought about the bad impersonation of her loved one and how he would most likely be waiting for her when she got out. He might even come into the room. She had to keep him away from them no matter what actions she'd have to make.

Kuon would always come first for her.

 **End of Chapter Ten**

 **Thank you for Reading**

 **Thank you Reviewers of Chapter Nine**

Crazy4Animation, Kris, PaulaGaTo


	11. Chapter 11 - Who I Care For Most

**AN:** Thank you for choosing to read this, I hope you enjoy it.

 **Chapter Eleven – Who I Care For Most**

Kyoko looked up at the president as she sat with the kitten Kuon on her lap. She didn't think that the president would hurt him, but convincing him might be more difficult now that there was an imposter Kuon walking around. She let her fingers go through his fur.

Lory sat opposite her and poured himself a cup of scotch before sighing and placing two fingers on his forehead. "Kyoko, I know that isn't the real Kuon. Could you please give me more credit than that? I've been watching over that boy for years and I know his mannerisms and how he speaks. I just have to pretend to get closer to the situation."

"So, you're willing on damaging Kuon's reputation for that?" Kyoko asked before seeing the kitten jump down and approach the president who scooped him up and pet him after he had set his drink down.

"I'm also willing to put my energy into making Kuon human again," he said as he looked at the kitten. "Although, he might be easier to get along with in feline form," he teased and saw the cat offer him a grumpy expression. "You know that I'm just teasing you, right?"

Kyoko sighed as she looked at the kitten and her eyes filled with tears. "Am I supposed to do the same? Kuon and I have always been very public about our romance. I can't kiss an imposter. Any move I make might cause some kind of pain to the man that I really love despite how he's a cat."

"What about if you considered it an acting assignment?" Lory asked as he pointed at her as if offering her a new role in a hit drama. Kyoko bowed her head and shook it.

"I can't do that. You saw all of those things that they did to him and they turned him into a cat because I went to see my biological father and he followed me," Kyoko tried to explain. "I didn't know that he would follow me."

"You've known Kuon for how long and you didn't guess on such a predictable outcome?" he asked before looking up and sighing. "I have half a mind to -"

"I tried to tell him that I didn't love him. I tried to push him away though I was planning on apologizing with a dogeza afterward. I didn't want him to get hurt. He's always tried to protect me and now look at him," she said as the cat looked down sadly. "I don't even know if he's big enough to defend himself from other animals. If he can't defend himself from a larger cat then there's no way he can stand a chance against my father."

She saw Kuon bow his head again before he walked back over to her and she picked him up as a couple of tear drops fell into his fur.

"I'm sorry, I have to go and I'm taking him with me," Kyoko said as she looked at the kitten and then slipped him into her bag. "I love you," she whispered and as she closed the bag she wrapped an arm around her stomach and started crying silently so that he wouldn't hear her. She was scared to see the imposter waiting for her but she was more scared about the fact that Kuon was a defenseless kitten. He had claws but they weren't sharp like an older cat's and he was still slow when it came to walking. She had to keep him safe.

As she came down the elevator and stepped out, she felt her hand get taken by the imposter and she felt her back straighten and tried to stop herself before she shivered. She didn't feel safe with him. However, if she made a scene then, the president thought, it would only endanger people around her.

"Hey," he said as his voice didn't sound right, "How did it go?"

Kyoko pulled her back closer to her body. "It went well. There were some things to discuss with my latest drama. Are you free today? I know that Yashiro tried to clear your schedule."

"I am," he nodded and Kyoko froze. She didn't like this. As much as she was happy that he wasn't going around and destroying Kuon's carefully built reputation, she didn't want to spend time with this creep whilst pretending he was the man who was emperor over her heart. Her fiancé was special but this man wasn't. "Can I take your bag?"

"Oh no, I'm good," Kyoko said quickly with a smile. She didn't want this fake Kuon to get anywhere near the real Kuon.

"What kind of a fiancé would I be if I didn't carry your things for you?" he asked and Kyoko looked around. She could feel him tugging at the bag. Maybe if she created some reason why a total stranger wouldn't want to touch her bag then she would be safe and, more importantly, _he_ would be safe.

"I'm on my time of the month and there was a trash problem with the lady's room so I have some used things in here and I don't think you'd -" she knew that even if she said this to the real Kuon, he would still smile and take her bag and ask if she wanted to get anything either at the drug store or to eat. It grossed most men out though. Kuon was different.

"I've seen you naked so I'm sure I'm used to sharing a bathroom with you," he said as he yanked her bag and Kyoko felt herself pushed back. Her heart started pounding in her chest. She had to get it back. She couldn't - her heart stopped as she saw the imposter pull out the kitten Kuon from the bag.

"I thought that I'd like to adopt a kitten…to see what it would be like to have chil-" she said before seeing the imposter throw the kitten against a nearby wall and she saw as the limp body fell onto the floor. Her heart started to beat faster as she noticed that the kitten wasn't moving. She looked up at the imposter in complete fear and then looked around. He had led her to some place where nobody else was without her noticing.

"I don't like cats very much," he told her as if that explained everything and Kyoko felt tears wash down her face.

"Please don't be. Please," she begged as she rushed to the kitten's side. She very gently placed her hand on his body and then felt weak breaths. He was having trouble breathing but he was fighting so hard for her. She picked him up, cradling him in her arms. "Please, please, please, please, please" she begged as she tried to give him the most support possible.

"Isn't it just an animal?" the imposter asked and Kyoko felt her anger burning inside of her. She froze as she felt something move inside the cat and its stomach started to get bigger and rounder. In fear she held him as she realized that the cat was growing bigger and things like his tail and ears were moving into his body. She sunk down under the weight before seeing the cat become her future-husband again although now he was naked and still having trouble breathing.

"Kuon, I'm here," she whispered as she tried to turn his head so that he could breathe and wouldn't choke. She looked up at the imposter and pulled Kuon closer to her. He had always protected her. She wouldn't let him die.

"You're smarter than I thought, however you weren't smart enough to know that without more chemicals in his body he wouldn't stay that way forever. It's a shame that he chose to fight for you. I should have thrown him harder. If he had died, he would have died as a cat."

The imposter approached Kyoko before feeling somebody grab him and throw him onto the ground. He turned to see Kuu standing there with so much fire and hatred in his eyes. Kuu didn't have to say anything and so he just stood there, the anger radiating through his whole body. He looked angry enough to kill and Kyoko turned her attention away from him for a moment to concentrate on the man on her lap.

"Sssh, baby just concentrate on breathing, okay?" she asked as she pressed soft kisses to the top of his head. She pulled out her phone and dialed for an ambulance and medic team to come to LME immediately. "I can't lose you," she looked around and noticed that Kuu had thrown her his coat before starting the fight and so she placed it around Kuon's body. She felt Kuon cough and rubbed his back as she tried hard not to let her tears cloud her vision.

"Ky-o-kko" Kuon said weakly as he reached for her hand, "Th-an-kk you for" he coughed again, "pro-t-tec-ting m—" he looked at her as his breaths started to get more even. Kyoko pulled him closer and ran her fingers through his blond hair. She heard panting and looked around to see the body of the imposter on the ground.

"He's not dead," Kuu tried to tell her. He didn't want to comment on how much the idea that he had beat up his own son was making him feel weak. He didn't want to tell her how hard it had been for him to do that. "How is he?" he asked nervously.

"He's getting better," Kyoko said as she kissed Kuon's forehead, "Thank you, Father?" she asked and he nodded to her. He walked over and picked Kuon up in his arms, holding him protectively.

"Emergency services are going to be outside?" he asked as he made sure the coat was still around his son. Kyoko nodded nervously as she followed him, grabbing her bag as she did so. She looked down at her ring and brought it to her lips. She didn't want to marry anybody else. Despite how much she didn't deserve Kuon, she didn't want to be with anyone else.

"Kuon?" she asked as he tried to keep consciousness, "I want to marry you as soon as the doctors release you."

Kuon looked at her bewildered, "You want a wedding," he tried to tell her and Kyoko shook her head.

"I want a marriage. I want to be your wife. Can we have a wedding later and get married tonight?" she asked and Kuon nodded to her. Kyoko looked away and at the injured body on the floor that was starting to look like that damn Italian again. Like hell she was going to marry _him_ but she knew that her father wasn't going to give up on her.

Maybe breaking Kuon's heart was the best option. Maybe turning him away, setting him free, maybe if they were separated it would be better for him but she was far too selfish to do _that_. He had always had a special importance for her and when she had learned that her fairy prince and the god of acting were the same she had felt so lucky to have him.

She just wanted to be with him.

Was that too much to ask for?

 **End of Chapter Eleven**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Very Important Thank You to Chapter Ten reviewers**

Crazy4Animation, daphne121, Kris, PaulaGaTo


	12. Chapter 12 - Who I Take

**AN:** I've been kind of busy these past few days and hopefully will be working some more hours. In that case updates will be slower but on the other hand, Justice League was AWESOME!

 **Chapter Twelve – Who I Take**

Saena knew that her daughter had to be behind the mess that was going on in her life and she had had to use all the force and legal knowledge at her disposal to get out of that office when those men had been there. She had never wanted to see that jerk for the rest of her life and it was all _her_ fault that she had experienced such a troubling day.

Saena definitely did not want to have anything to do with that man or their child but she wasn't a heartless monster. She did actually care about people. She wanted to make sure that the man she was falling in love with was alright. She wanted to make sure that her offspring hadn't caused too much harm to the Hizuri family.

She sighed before running her hands through her hair. She hated stress and she absolutely hated stress when it came from her human emotions. She could be a powerful woman who knocked down the obstacles in her way but she had had to have a heart. That was why that girl was so useless to her. It had been her heart that had given that jerk more power and it had been the heart she had inspired that had led to her being engaged to a feline.

Saena pulled her phone out of her pocket and, with some channeling of contacts in her network, placed a call to her daughter.

…..

…..

Kuon looked at Kyoko confused before smiling with the same question in mind, "Did the president say _who_ was going to come down and marry us?" he asked. He would definitely not be surprised if it was Lory who was going to marry them in the hospital room.

Kyoko smiled as she looked down, she had been able to go home and grab a white blouse and long white skirt before coming back to change at the hospital. She felt a little bad that Kuon had to be in a hospital gown but as they had discussed, this was a symbol that they were married but it wasn't a formal wedding. They could both be in their pajamas and the idea would still be the same.

They were going to be joined to one another for the rest of their lives.

Kyoko took a deep breath but the question was answered for her and she looked up to see the president standing there like a friar in some Robin Hood movie. She grinned to Kuon. "Well, you _know_ that he's a messenger of love," she said before she let her fingers roam over Kuon's blond hair.

Kyoko looked up at the president as she noticed that Yashiro had also entered to join Kuu and Julie in the hospital room. She pressed small kisses to Kuon's arm. "Are you ready?" she asked and Kuon looked at her.

"Are you sure that this is what you want?" Kuon asked as he looked at her, "This isn't the prince-"

"If Snow White had to hide away in the forest or if Jasmine went into the streets of Agrabah and they married people there, they would make do with their circumstances. They wouldn't care where they were but of getting true love and someone who respects them for who they are. That's what I want from you. I want my husband to be a man who is able to respect me."

Kuon nodded. He knew that Kyoko wanted to make their marriage legal before her dad tried to get to her again and he wanted that too. Still, his back hurt a lot from where someone had thrown him in kitten form against a wall as well as the attacks that had happened before he was even a kitten. "I will happily become your husband," he told her and Kyoko smiled softly.

Lory smiled at the two of them, "Well, I certainly can't think of two people who are worse at understanding the generic form of love but better suited to each other than you two and can I say that I'm glad that you're not a video game. The easiest play mode would be challenging."

Kuon frowned as he looked at Lory, "Can we please get to the part where I get to kiss my wife."

"Well, since this isn't really a formal wedding we don't have to go through all of it, but we have our witnesses, we have our bride and groom," he said to them. "Well, it is my honor to bring you all here today and I can either go through this slowly or you can book me for your -"

"Fine, you can do our wedding," Kuon said with a roll of his eyes. "I mean, you and Yashiro really did bring us together. We should really appreciate that fact more."

"Good," Lory smiled before looking at Kuu and pointing to him, "I'm making you my witness to that. So, Kyoko, do you take Kuon Hizuri to be your husband, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish and to also love him if he decides to change his name again?"

Kuon rolled his eyes but Kyoko smiled softly, "I do,"

"Kuon, do you take Kyoko -"

"I do," Kuon nodded as Lory looked at him with a stern glare. Kuon put his hands up in defense as he looked at the president. "I thought that it would be good to skip it, but if it's so important to you then yes, no matter what happens now or forever, I love you and will do my best as a husband to you, Kyoko."

Lory sighed before taking off his cloak, "Then I now announce you husband and wife, you may kiss your bride you idiot."

Kuon rolled his eyes again before kissing Kyoko very passionately and she let a hand rest against his chest. She froze as she saw a very unexpected woman at her door and when she broke out of the kiss she blinked hard.

"Mother?" she asked as Kuon reached out for her again, "Mother what are you doing here?"

"You didn't. You stupid stupid girl" Saena said horrified.

Kuu turned to look at the woman standing in the doorway. He had heard stories from Kyoko over the years about her mother and her childhood and he recognized the voice from the phone call. He had also heard both Kuon and Lory tell him about the interview where Saena had denied having a child. Kuu Hizuri was definitely not the biggest fan of this woman.

"What did you just say?" he asked with a tilt of his head and a calm smile that was similar to one his son had when he was trying to conceal how annoyed he was with another person.

"I called my daughter an idiot and I need to talk to her before she makes another mistake that will ruin her life," Saena said before looking at Kuu with severity in her eyes and a little hatred, Kuu mirrored her expression and put an arm on the other side of the doorway to avoid anyone going in or out.

"You called me and told me that it was best to keep these two away from everyone else," he said as there was a silence that filled the room. "Fortunately, I had no need for such advice but what I do have need for is to advise you that both of my children are important to me. You might be right that Kuon has a more significant part of my heart but Kyoko has also told me she wouldn't want it to be the other way around. I apologize, but you're wasting your time here."

Saena looked at him before pointing to Kuon, "I hope that being turned into a kitten didn't change his mentality. Now. I refuse to leave unless I get to talk to my daughter."

"And as Kyoko's legal father in law, I refuse to -" Kuu began but was distracted when the new wife gently pushed him aside so she could face her mother straight on.

"Hello," she said trying to mask all of her emotions, "Mother, what can I help you with today?"

Sanea looked down and gritted her teeth before looking up and at Kyoko. She didn't want to ask this brat for help in any area of her life but this wasn't just her life that was being played around with. "I need to talk to you about your actual father."

Kyoko sighed and looked up before turning to Kuu. "I now call this man my father but because I have my problems against my biological father then I will listen," she turned to Kuu. "Please excuse me and please keep a watch on Kuon for me." She turned to her husband and smiled, "I'll be back as soon as I can," she told him.

Kyoko looked at her mother and then looked straight at the floor. She took a deep breath wondering whether she should say anything and stand up for herself or just to let it go. "Mother," she said slowly. "I am married to Kuon Hizuri. Just because my biological father has -"

"He's gone after Todoh-san," Saena said as she looked at her. Kyoko could see fear in her mother's eyes but she knew that Sanea was far too proud of her strength and independence than even she had been. Saena was quiet and wasn't lavish with her emotions. Kyoko sometimes had problems keeping her emotions under control and she trusted her new husband more than anyone. They had lived two very different lives.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kyoko said weakly, "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

"There's a new drug but you're probably too stupid to know what their drugs can do. You have the laziness of a sloth and I'm sure are unable to process thoughts which are so intelligent."

Kyoko sighed at how her mother was just brushing her off. She looked at her mother as she tried to pick up on all the small nuisances in her behavior. Kyoko hated to say it but she didn't really care about how this woman thought of her and she didn't care about helping her were she to go on with her rants against Kuon. Kyoko really just wanted to leave and make sure that she and Kuon were safe.

Nothing else mattered right now.

"Are you even listening to what I'm saying. I heard talk of a plan to rob somebody of their handsomeness and since your so-called husband was a cat it's obvious that they were talking about Todoh-san." Kyoko's eyes widened. Were they watching her right now?

"As you said, my husband was a cat. Please give my regrets to Todoh-san," she said before bowing. "I owe him a lot but I'm done trying to impress you. You're only here because you want something from me and in these circumstances, I need to concentrate on my husband."

"You do," Saena nodded as she raised an eyebrow, "But you'll have to consider that after your divorce."

Kyoko laughed bitterly as she rolled her eyes. "Mother, I know who you are going to tell me to marry and I care about Todoh-san and feel that whatever has happened to him is unfortunately and I offer my sympathy but there is nobody more important to me than Kuon and I've finished listening to the two of you."

Kyoko took another breath in and then turned, she left quickly so as to avoid changing her mind and apologizing to the woman who was asking for her help. She just needed to get to Kuon.

Hopefully her actual wedding day was better than this.

 **End of Chapter Twelve**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you, reviewers Chapter Eleven**

Ktoll9, paulagato


	13. Chapter 13 - What Is Best

**AN:** I changed my mind on the plot of this story but I hope you still enjoy it. There will now be many plotlines to juggle, fun 😊

 **Chapter Thirteen – What is Best**

Kyoko sighed as she placed a cooling pack on the back of Kuon's neck. The bruises from where he had been thrown against the wall as a cat were already coming out and she felt guilty about it. Still, the main source of her guilt didn't involve her new husband and she hated to admit that.

Kyoko turned to look at Kuon from the side as he reached out and held her other hand. "Hmm, what is it?" she asked as she kissed him on the cheek. "Kuon, what is it? What's wrong?"

"You're worried about your mother," he told her and Kyoko froze before looking down.

"I never said that I was worried about her," she told him as she sat in their new temporary residency, an apartment the president had in Shibuya. This was only until Kuon had recovered and then the two of them would be leaving the country but with Kuon's injuries, flying might not have been best. "I'm worried about -"

"What kind of husband would I be if I didn't understand what you were thinking about," Kuon said with a playful smile as Kyoko moved the pack to get to his other bruises. "Besides, you recognized me as a cat so obviously we know one another."

"I would have continued loving you as a cat," Kyoko attempted to remind him. "Even if we couldn't communicate and I started coughing up furballs after kissing you too much," she blushed but Kuon sighed as he looked forward. He moved his hand a little and his eyes narrowed as it became harder for him to move it, almost constrictively.

"Do you think you could get me another pain killer?" Kuon asked and Kyoko looked down obviously torn about the choice that she had to make.

"Kuon," she said weakly as she went over to get him the medication that the doctors had given them at the hospital. She didn't want him to be in pain but she didn't want to fall into another one of her father's traps. "I don't want to put too much of our trust in these drugs. I know it's hard sweetheart but do you think you could handle the pain on your own."

Kyoko immediately looked at the ground, she felt terrible about saying that the man she loves should endure pain that she couldn't even imagine but there were ways that her father could have gotten to the drugs. There were ways that he was poisoning Kuon without them knowing and that he had paid off the doctors to do this.

"I'll slow down but I think they are helping," Kuon told her and Kyoko sighed.

The doctors had said that these would be okay and he had been diagnosed these by the best hospital in Tokyo. They had a reputation that they needed to uphold and why would they want to risk their reputations on someone who was in the media as much as Kuon. He was completely exposed so any damage that was caused by these drugs would be exposed too.

Kyoko brought over the pills and the water before kneeling in front of her seated husband. She let her hand go through his hair as she felt his forehead. He still had a slight fever but she didn't want him to go back to the hospital until she knew that they had no other choice.

"I love you, I wish you didn't worry so much, I'll protect you," Kuon attempted to promise her and Kyoko felt the tears in her eyes.

If Kuon hadn't have been protecting her then he wouldn't have been hurt. If he hadn't concerned himself with her safety more than using logic and common sense, they wouldn't have been able to beat him or change his species. She hadn't even been able to protect him when he was a cat. She felt a few tears run down her cheeks as she thought about how he had been taken from her hands and thrown against the wall as easily as one would throw a bag or a ball or a frisbee.

She felt Kuon touch her cheek as she tried to hide the tears from him. She had already inconvenienced him more than he deserved. She didn't have the right to worry him further.

"I'm okay," she whispered as she tried to wipe her tears away with her sleeve. "I'll be alright," she said as she couldn't get the image of the little kitten out of her head. She kept hearing the sound of him whacking against the wall and then falling down limply onto the ground struggling to breathe. At least he was her husband now.

Kyoko reached up to him and gave him the medicine and the water. As he took it, she felt her heart pause and she waited to see if something would happen. She looked at him for a long time, studying him, and after more than ten minutes had passed, she stood up and kissed him on his forehead. "I'll go clean the glass," she said and he nodded.

"I told you it would be o-" he said before suddenly stopping.

Kyoko laughed as she took the glass to the kitchen area, "Okay, you told me it would be okay," she said before pausing as she heard a loud thump onto the floor and she quickly turned around to see that Kuon was now on the ground. Her heart started pounding painfully in her chest. He wasn't moving.

"Kuon!" the actress yelled as she broke the glass by dropping it into the sink but she didn't give it a second thought. "Kuon," she knelt down next to him, her heart painfully twisting as she noticed how he was still with his eyes open and she gently placed a hand to his throat trying to feel for a pulse. She shouldn't have let him take those drugs. Was she stupid? He could have endured the pain.

As she touched him, she felt his skin start tightening and soon there were cuts over his body and over his face. She could feel his skin pushing against his bones as his muscles quickly decreased in size and she could see his ribcage poking out of his skin. She pulled her hand off of him as she felt how defined his bones were and the way his neck seemed to be getting squeezed.

Maybe if she - maybe if she was quick enough and forced the other medicine he had into his mouth it would save him. Maybe it would create a counter balance or it would do something because if she didn't act quickly enough, there would only be a skeleton before her.

She rushed to get the other pills and shoved it into his mouth hoping that there was a part of him still alive. She grabbed to him as she felt the transformation stop and she let the tears run down her cheeks. No. She couldn't let him die.

All of a sudden she felt more flesh to his bones, she felt him inhale and then cough and inhale again, she felt heat from his body but she also felt the fur and looked down to the kitten. So they were back at square one. She saw the little kitten struggling to breathe so swept him up in her arms as her tears fell into the fur.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered helplessly, "I am so so sorry," she said with tears in her eyes as the kitten started to get its breath back. She saw the kitten try to look at her and she stared back into those emerald eyes. At least he was alive. "I'm so sorry," she begged again as Kuon reached out a paw for her.

Kyoko bowed her head, she knew that she couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't risk hurting him.

With Kuon securely in her arms, she reached for her phone and made a call that she was hoping wouldn't result in Kuon never wanting to see her again. She felt the tears fall onto the ground as she listened to the other person pick up.

"Hello, Kuu Hizuri speaking," Kuu said and Kyoko sobbed painfully.

"Father, Kuu-sama," she said desperately, "I'm sorry for burdening you but I need you to do something for me. Please, I'll only ask for one more thing in my entire life if you'll just do this for me."

"What is it, Kyoko? Are you hurt?" Kuu said as Kuon looked fearfully at the phone.

"Kuon went back to being a cat and I…I something happened but…can you please just take him away from me. Please," she begged as Kuon reached towards the phone panicked but Kyoko pulled it out of reach of his paws. "Please just take care of him. Please, keep him away from me. Just I don't know…he's a cat but he's -"

"Is this what you want?" Kuu asked wanting to make sure and Kyoko sighed.

"No, it's not what I want," she admitted, "but what I want is for him to be safe. I think that that's the only way to do things, please keep him safe and please treat him with the love you -"

"Of course, I won't let anyone touch my son," Kuu said before sighing, "You're at the apartment?" he asked and Kyoko sobbed.

"Yes," she said as she cradled Kuon with one arm. "He's the most important person in my whole life. Please don't let anything happen to him," she sobbed. "He's a cat but -"

"But he's my son," Kuu completed for her, "Always."

….

…

Kuu sighed as he looked at the baggage that he was checking in on his flight back to America. He hated to leave Kyoko here alone but she had assured him that she was doing what she felt was best. He looked over to his wife and found that she was still gazing inside her bag at the small cat. "I don't feel comfortable separating from you two," he said honestly. "Can't we all go on -"

"It's supposed to be a secret flight," Julie said in a whisper, "and he's finally asleep. I think it's best if I just take him on the private plane tonight."

Kuu pouted and looked down again. "Are you sure that we can't just stay together?" he looked down before taking a deep breath and turning to the self-check in. "I am refusing to go on that flight," he said as he started pacing and Julie looked down as she let her fingers run over her son's back. She closed her eyes and tried to fight against the pain and heartache that she was experiencing.

Kuon had protested leaving Kyoko's side but Kuu and Kyoko had both decided it was best for Kuon to be kept safe so that they wouldn't target him. Legally Kyoko was married to Kuon and nobody knew about the cat transformation happening again. That meant that there was enough to stop Kyoko being forced into marriage. Maybe that was her plan.

Kuu really wanted to believe that at least Kuon, who wouldn't have a direct link to the problem, was safe.

Julie gestured for the two of them to go sit on a bench and she sighed, "Let's try to decide what we're going to do," she said as Kuu looked around to where they were very exposed. Julie pulled her iPad from her bag and then paused as she opened the case. There were claw marks down the side of it and when held in the right light, one could see little paw prints all over the screen. Julie paused as she tried to stop herself from crying over what had happened to her son.

"We can get you a new one," Kuu said as he touched the scratch that would have been made by Kuon's claws. He saw the cat waking up sadly and lifted the bag. "I'm so sorry," he whispered to his son as Kuon poked his head out from the bag. Kuu looked around before picking the cat up and going towards the window.

"This is only to keep you safe, this is what she wanted," Kuu said before he felt a crowd gather.

Julie turned with the crowd to watch him and then stopped as she saw a police officer go over to Kuu.

"I'm afraid that that animal has to be put in a cage or carry case if he's here, Hizuri-sama," one officer said and Kuu looked at him stunned. "Do you have the cage for your pet?" he asked as Kuu continued to stare at him horrified.

"Ye-Yes," Kuu nodded before looking down and with the hand that wasn't supporting Kuon created a fist. _Don't you dare refer to my son as a pet or I'll refer to you as less than human._ Kuu said before putting Kuon back in Julie's bag.

 **End of Chapter Thirteen**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Twelve**

KrisXD, ktoll9


	14. Chapter 14 - Why I'm Here

**AN: This definitely isn't everyone's favorite fic and I was waiting until Sunday originally to post it but this chapter made me feel so happy to write that I wanted to post it early. Thank you if you do choose to read it.**

 **Chapter Fourteen – Why I'm Here**

It broke Kuu's heart but he finally allowed for Julie to convince him to put Kuon in the transportation area of the plane as well as take the flight. They had decided to change the flight so that they would take a connecting one to Los Angeles which meant that they were stopping in San Francisco first. It wasn't that far away considering the flight that they would have already made but it might get Kyoko's father off their trail if he did decide to find them.

Julie looked at Kuu as she saw how tense he was. If this had been a normal owner then they might have been worried about their animal being in the back of the plane with the other animals and baggage, after all cats couldn't come out into the main area of the plane. Kuu was absolutely terrified and it showed. Julie held his hand and brought it to her lips, she only hoped that he would calm down.

As the meal cart showed up in their first class accommodations, Julie turned her attention to the food. Maybe this would calm Kuu down a little, the food in first class was always amazing. "Hizuri-san," the Japanese flight attendant smile to the major celebrity, "What meal would you like to choose?" she asked and Kuu looked at her before looking at the ground.

"I'm not hungry," he told her and Julie put a hand to his arm, rubbing it to try to comfort him.

"Why don't you leave him the Japanese style meal?" she asked, "I'll also take it so two of those."

"I'm not hungry, Julie," Kuu said as he tried to distract himself by looking out of the window and running his fingers through his hair for the umpteenth time. Julie sighed as she held his hand, letting her fingers slip in between his.

"I think you will be later," Julie told him as she rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb. She looked up at the attendant, "Can you just give him the meal. I'm sure that if he's not hungry now then he'll be hungry later."

"Fine," Kuu sighed as the meal was handed to him. He looked at the food before trying to imagine how Kuon was in the back of the plane. He had seen those pictures of animals back there with their water dripping down just as if they were in a hamster cage. He hoped that they were actually feeding him brand name food – even if it was cat food – that wouldn't be too bad for him to eat.

This was torture on him but he knew that he couldn't request for Kuon to be given fresh fish, not with all those other actual animals around him. The attendant looked at him puzzled.

"Is something wrong, Hizuri-san?" she asked and Kuu looked at her.

"We…we have a…our c-at is back there," Kuu said as his heart pained a little, "He's okay, right? You take good care of the animals back there, right?" he asked and the flight attendant smiled.

"I assure you that we take care of all the pets," the attendant said and Julie grabbed Kuu's arm to calm him. Fortunately she was successful this time and she saw the pain in Kuu's face.

"What are they supposed to think?" she whispered to him as she rubbed his arm trying to keep him calm. "As long as we know the truth then it's okay. Just let them call him that for right now, it'll be the best way to keep him safe if they think that."

…

…

Kyoko kept her hands on the floor as she knelt in front of her father. She hated this idea but she had to go through with it, she had to keep him safe just as he would do anything in his power to keep her safe. Fortunately, he was her husband and there was no legal ruling that would get around that. She would also say that he went into hiding. Even if they knew that he was now back to being a cat, they would never be able to convince a court of that.

"So," her father said as he stepped in front of her, putting his hand on her back to keep her down, to keep her subservient to him. "You're back, you thought that you could outrun me but I've been running out on people since before you were born. I've been getting more powerful and stronger and you've just been getting weaker but no matter, actually feeling love can do that to a person."

Kyoko felt the strain as he held her, she didn't want to do this, what she wanted to do was direct all of her anger at him and shoot an energy ball at him like they did in some of the cartoons that were produced in her home country.

"I'm doing this on one condition," she said as her father ran his hand through her hair again. She hated this, she hated anyone but Kuon touching her like this as if she were some doll or some puppet. She felt a pain through her body but still didn't fight back.

"Oh that miserable husband of yours," her father said, spitting out the word. "Well, I know you're foolish enough to try to damage my plans but yes, I'll play your little game and not go after him. Afterall he's only your husband in legal terms, I can still have you enter any relationship that my heart desires. Did you know that your in-laws are headed to Hawaii right now. Whereas I might not be able to go after him, I did put one of my guard dogs on that plane.

"Why would I care about you-" Kyoko said before hearing that cold and cruel laughter.

"Well, let's just say that little itty bitty kittens are usually scared by big bad dogs," he said and Kyoko tensed. Had telling Kuu and Julie to take a flight to get Kuon out of Japan the wrong idea. She looked at him and her heart bled before she stared down.

"If anything happens to him then -" she began but her father cut her off.

"Then what? You should know that you have no power over me," he said, "Don't make threats that you have no way of accomplishing. You can't touch me, I have ways to defend myself that you don't even know about."

Kyoko nodded, "I know that I have no way of hurting you but I will kill myself if you kill him and I'll know. I'll know in my heart if he's okay. If he dies then I will die with him and that will upset your little plan," she said before her father kicked her again. Kyoko rolled to the side but her eyes narrowed. She was willing to endure torture and pain if it kept him safe after all, if she was dead then the cruel man in front of her would never get his way.

"So you're willing to do what I say as long as nothing is taken from that man…cat?" her father asked and Kyoko nodded. She knew that she was smart, she had been told by other people that she was quite intelligent when she put her mind to it. She just had to rely on that fact for herself now. She only had herself but she knew that Kuon was rooting for her, when she had his love in her heart, she couldn't fail in her mission.

There was silence for a long time until a man came to her father's side and threw down a black tight blouse and black leather mini skirt. Kyoko had worn things like this before but she couldn't believe it was her own father who was asking her to wear them. Of course she couldn't be expecting a normal life, she couldn't be expecting a normal family so she just had to breathe deeply and face the consequences.

"The first thing I want you to do is make a trip to your mother…wearing _these_ clothes," her father said and Kyoko paled.

Okay. Maybe this was worse than she had originally thought but it would be nothing compared to the loss of Kuon and she had to do everything that she could to prevent that.

…..

…

An hour later, the air hostess came to the Hizuri couple as Kuu had barely touched his food. They were still flying high in the sky with several hours to go and one of the women looked at Kuu with a very apologetic look on her face. "We're so sorry, Hizuri-san, the woman at the check in made a mistake about your animal."

Kuu's body tensed and his eyes got wider as he looked as if he were about to have a panic attack. Julie reached out for him. There was no telling what they were going to say and she really hoped that it didn't overwhelm Kuu, if she could try to keep him calm then she would do so. "Honey," she reached out to him and he stared at her, "What is it about our cat?" she asked.

"Well in first class, passengers are allowed to take small animals like cats and hamsters with them," Kuu stared at her and then kept looking between her and Julie. "Would you like to -"

"Yes, if we can have him here then we want him here," Kuu said quickly and the woman nodded. Kuu's body stiffened again and he glanced down in front of him. He looked to Julie who grabbed his hand with a smile on her face despite the circumstances.

She saw Kuu's relief when he saw another woman come back with the carry case. "We need you to store him under the seat in front or beside you just as you would with a bag and you can't take him out of the case but here," she handed the cage forward and Kuu felt the tears in his eyes but he looked worried as he saw that Kuon was asleep but he was shaking as if he was frightened about something.

Just what had happened back there. Kuu made to motion to put the cage in front of him but pulled it up when the women were gone. "He doesn't look right," Kuu said as the cat's breaths seemed more jagged as if he were having a nightmare. "What do you think?"

"Maybe it's the stress of losing Kyoko," Julie whispered before opening the top of the case and looked around to make sure that nobody was watching her. She very gently ran her hand over Kuon's fur. He woke up a little and looked at her very sleepily before shaking. He started meowing loudly causing some of the other flyers to turn to them and Julie handed Kuu the case.

"I'm sorry baby," she whispered, "We have to treat you like a cat right now. We'll be in San Francisco soon," she said and Kuon nodded before laying down. He meowed again as he looked up and out of the top of the case at Kuu who smiled seeing him alive. Kuu reached out for his sashimi before putting it in Kuon's reach. Hopefully that would keep him satisfied for now.

"I love you," Kuu said, "we didn't know you could be up here with us. We would have never left you alone if we had known," he said quickly and Kuon nodded. Kuu smiled as he reached for some of the salmon with his paw before eating it.

As sad as it was that his son wasn't of the same species that he was, he made an adorable kitten.

 **End of Chapter Fourteen**

 **Thank you for reading and thanks so much for all of your patience in the update**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Thirteen**

Kris XD and ktoll9


	15. Chapter 15 - What I'll Risk

**AN:** I realize I've started to get very short with some reviewers and I'm sorry, I need to learn how to take constructive comments better so thank you all for sticking with my stories despite that. I really hope you enjoy this chapter. 😊

 **Chapter Fifteen – What I'll Risk**

Kyoko felt very stupid and conspicuous as she stood wearing the tight and somewhat revealing outfit in the lobby of the law office. She had said that she had business with one of the lawyers and when they had asked her the name she had had to act stupid and say she forgot but it was a big case with money. She had been expected to be kicked out of the office at that moment but for some reason, a male lawyer had asked that she stay because she would be 'nice to look at'.

People like that disgusted her but as much as she wanted to argue back with him, this was something she should have prepared herself for and she had to follow her father's commands in order to save Kuon. She took a steady breath as a man approached her. He was three times her age but Kyoko needed to play it cool, channel Natsu or Setsuka or somebody who could play around with him.

"Hi, are you waiting for somebody?" he asked and Kyoko shifted.

"Yeah, but I don't know who," she said as she tried to act dumb like the stereotypical American blond. She mentally apologized to Julie, she definitely didn't consider her stupid but this was how she had to pretend to be.

"Are you waiting for any lawyer to take your case?" he asked, "because I'd certainly be happy to help a pretty young thing like you. I mean, I'm sure you can stretch those legs very far apart," he said and Kyoko had to control herself from slapping this man.

She was doing this for Kuon. She was doing this for Kuon.

Kyoko was about to lean forward and say something slutty and flirtaceous before hearing a loud gasp of horror. Hearing the next words, Kyoko knew that she had the right person standing behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Saena said in a voice that dripped with so much loathing that Kyoko could see the early facial expressions that Ren had when confronted with Reino. She had been incredibly stupid at times when she was younger.

"You know her Mogami?" the man asked and Saena stuck her nose up in the air.

"She's on trial for some sex crime I believe," she said and Kyoko paled, "She's been begging for me to take her case and I've told her that I won't do so."

"Oh, so you're a lady of the night?" the man smiled happily before leaning forward and whispering in a voice that only Kyoko was able to hear. "I was wondering why you looked so familiar. Tell your company that I'll be in touch, Seto-san," he said and Kyoko nodded. She hadn't needed to hear that.

Saena rolled her eyes and then started to walk out, "I don't want to be seen with you," she commented and Kyoko nodded. Saena looked at her, "We'll meet at that small restaurant down the street but heaven forbid anyone sees me with you," she said sharply and Kyoko nodded.

She knew that in this outfit she had pretty much lost all of her mother's respect but Kuon was worth it and she would do anything that she needed to to keep him safe.

…

…

Kyoko stared across at her mother as they sat in the very back corner of the very dark and smoky restaurant. This was a place that she would never go with Kuon but she knew the difference. Her mother was ashamed to be seen with her especially dressed like this and though Kuon might be concerned about how she was dressed, he would not be embarrassed to be with her. Protective, yes, but not embarrassed.

"Are you out of your mind?" Saena said sharply, "I would love to have you arrested for your stupidity. I was never that stupid."

"I didn't choose to wear this," Kyoko told her, "it was a request from father. I've decided to risk my life and to pretend to do what he says whilst really helping you."

Saena glared at her, "Stupid girl, I know that you have no intention of helping me."

Kyoko sighed, "If you're talking about the hospital and what I said there, I apologize and you're right. I will time and time again choose my husband over anyone or anything else but if helping him means that I'm helping you too then that isn't a bonus that I'd turn my nose up at."

"You don't know how much trouble love is," Saena told her and Kyoko sighed.

"That's because I don't think you have ever felt a love that you think it possible to accept but I know that you care for Todoh-san if only as a colleague," she saw Saena put her hand up to slap her but then look around. Slapping Kyoko would cause a scene and with Kyoko dressed in this way, then she didn't want any attention.

She quickly placed her hand on the table, "That's none of your business," she said. "From when have you learned to be so direct and brazen?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrow, "I always knew that you were a bit of a crybaby."

"Perhaps," Kyoko nodded, "Perhaps I was in the past but there's something more important to me now and that is my husband," she looked at her with a chilling determination in her expression.

"You're ridiculous. You do realize that your husband is a feline, can't even clean his own litter box," Saena said and Kyoko rolled her eyes.

"If staying so-called single guarantees me a life with Kuon then I am willing to do it. Kuon has shown me a type of joy that you never could have. If he needs somebody to care for him as a cat then I will do it. I will make sure he is the happiest most well-taken-care-of cat that ever lived. I love him that much."

Saena laughed coldly, "You're willing to sacrifice your life for a cat, those things can be bought at the pet store for five hundred yen."

Kyoko raised her own hand but bit her lip and put her hand on the table, "You know, I really thought that I could be of some help to you since I'm attempting to take my biological father down to keep my husband safe but you don't seem to want any help," Kyoko said with cold eyes and Saena laughed.

"Finally developing a backbone?" Saena asked and Kyoko stood.

"Once again," she said as she put a business card that Lory had had printed up for her when she had debuted and graduated from the Love Me section, "This is the number at the agency where you can reach me. I'll remind you that I have also given you my number on a piece of paper if you haven't thrown that away. I am willing to help you and Todoh-san but I don't want my husband insulted."

"He's not your husband," Saena commented as she laughed at that statement, "He's just some feline whose about to be coughing up hairballs."

"You know what every living creature has?" Kyoko asked and Saena stared at her, "They have some method of thinking, they have a heart, they have a personality. As long as Kuon responds to me as himself and has awareness of our relationship then he is my husband. You never knew how to love and I was your perfect opportunity. I will help you but my loyalty lies with Kuon and the Hizuri family," Kyoko told her before walking out of the restaurant, attracting the looks of many men.

She sighed before going somewhere that felt like home even now. She felt nervous about facing them whilst she was wearing this but she needed to talk to somebody and she felt that contacting Kuu and Julie would just be putting Kuon in risk and that was the last thing that she wanted to do.

…..

…..

Julie sighed as she unpacked their bags in the San Francisco hotel room. They had managed to find a hotel that would allow them to have a 'pet' with them as long as the pet was under control. If the animal was found to be prowling around outside the hotel room then they would be taken to the front desk and the owner or owners would be asked to leave.

Fortunately, Kuon understood this and so Julie could unpack their luggage. She sat on the bed whilst she watched Kuu walking around with Kuon in his arms and the kittens head resting on his shoulder, it reminded her of when they would carry Kuon around when he was a toddler. He would often point to things and babble and Kuu would try to explain it.

Julie realized that half of the words that they would say to Kuon at that young age wouldn't be understood but they enjoyed doing it, they enjoyed talking to their friends and coworkers at how smart Kuon was and even before he could form words he could ask questions.

"So, you see the lights right there?" Kuu pointed and Kuon turned around, still safe in his father's arms. "We took you there when you were a little boy. Maybe we can take you there again or maybe you'll be human soon and able to…"

Julie felt the pain in her chest as she started sobbing and Kuu turned to her. She saw the fear in Kuon's furry face but she couldn't keep the tears in. Kuu walked over to her, sitting down with Kuon on his lap as he ran his hand over the kitten's head.

"What is it?" Kuu asked as he gently placed a hand on Julie's cheek.

"What are we going to tell our friends?" she asked and Kuon tensed up, Kuu continued petting him but he leaned closer to Julie, the concern reflecting in his eyes. "I can't…I can't just…how are we going to -"

"What do you mean what are we going to tell them?" Kuu asked and Julie looked down.

"About Kuon, what are we going to tell our family let alone our friends and coworkers," she continued sobbing and Kuon started to struggle against Kuu's hand that was running through his fur. He headbutted his hand until Kuu lifted it and Kuon jumped off the bed, running out of the bedroom area in the suite.

"We've been saying nothing for years," Kuu said, "Avoiding questions, I thought we could continue doing that," he said and Julie felt the pain in her heart.

"And what, explain to them that we're very attached to our pet?" Julie said horrified as she started to cry more, "Talk about how smart and gorgeous our cat is?" she continued and Kuu tensed. "I don't want to think of him as a cat. I definitely don't want to think of him as our pet but people won't understand the truth about him. I just…how can I be his mother?" he asked and Kuu sighed.

"Do you want to be his mother?" he asked and Julie looked at him as if Kuu had just told her to slit Kuon's throat.

"I'm his mother," she argued, "He wasn't born a cat, I gave birth to him, I'm not going to let myself believe that he has a cat as his mother," she argued fiercely. "I want to be his mother even if he coughs up hairballs and destroys all the furniture and has accidents outside a littler box. I'm his mother," she argued fiercely and Kuu smiled.

"And I'm his father and it's painful to know he's a cat but I'd rather be his father than ignore him. We'll just try to make it work. I think the most important thing is that we continue to show him how much we love him," Kuu said and Julie sighed before standing up.

She went out of the bedroom area and looked around, she couldn't see him. As she walked around the living room type area she saw a shadow from under the chair and peeked down to see the little cat shaking with tears in his eyes.

"Sweetheart," she said as the cat moved back and away from her, "I'm so sorry," she told him. He had misunderstood her and she didn't know if a simple explanation would be enough for him anymore.

 **End of Chapter Fifteen**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Fourteen**

Kris XD, ktoll9, Paulagato

 **Response to Reviews**

Well, I wanted to make Kyoko's father as evil as possible to really show drama in the story. I think Saena will have to learn when to rely on her daughter but Kyoko is going to do what she can for her love and Saena might have to follow her lead this time. Thanks for all of your support.


	16. Chapter 16 - Why It Hurts

**AN:** Thanks for your patience with this fic. I really hope you enjoy. Sorry if it seems a little repetitive

 **Chapter Sixteen: Why It Hurts**

Kuu looked around his home as he stood with the empty carry case in his hand. He had let Kuon out and seen the new kitty Kuon trying to interact with the home. He had looked so saddened by what was around him and Kuu knew that he just needed time to get used to it. Julie was still shaking since she was concerned about her son. She loved him. She would always love him but it wasn't fair and she knew it was killing him that he couldn't help protect Kyoko.

Julie went over to Kuu as he tucked the carrier into the closet in the entryway. "I think he'll settle in okay," Julie said as she went over to her husband, she put a hand on his chest and then pressed her head into his shoulder. "He'll be okay, we'll keep him safe."

"And Kyoko…" Kuu hesitated, "I feel bad that I'm not there to protect her, she doesn't have anyo-"

There was a crash and then the ringing of bells from the music room and both HIzuris looked at each other before running into the room. Kuu's eyes widened as he saw papers on the ground and then heard labored breaths, his eyes caught onto the sight of a naked human Kuon lying on the floor though it appeared he was having difficulty breathing.

"Jules!" Kuu said as he rushed over and saw that there were bloody marks all over Kuon's body and he was gasping for air. Kuu quickly placed his hands on his son's chest ready to do CPR on him. "Can you get my…"

"I'm calling," Julie said as she cupped the phone to her cheek, tears in her eyes. "It'll be okay, my darling, it'll be okay."

…..

…..

Kyoko sighed as she closed her eyes. When would this stupid thing be over? When would the madness that she was dealing with stop because honestly, she really wasn't a fan of it. She had wanted to get her mother's help in dealing with the man who had tricked her but her mother had been far too concerned about these clothes that Kyoko hated wearing herself. This was to help her new husband though. She had gone through all of this because she loved him and she wanted the pain to be over.

The only real way of getting the fighting to stop was to confront her past. Although, this wasn't her past, she hadn't known her father, she hadn't been the one to get duped by him and have an important case file stolen. No, she had to keep her mind clear and stop blaming other people.

There was one man who she wanted to talk to. He had guards and connections and if anyone could help then it would be him. She had no idea what to say to him dressed like this though. She hadn't even been given orders to speak with him so she was risking her own life. He might be the one to help them though.

As she traipsed through LME with her tight leather miniskirt and red blouse that was cut far too low for Kuon ever to be comfortable with it, Kyoko caught the attention of many people who were whispering about the strange behavior that surrounded her. She didn't know if she would ever get the chance to explain herself but perhaps lapse of sanity might work.

As she made her way through the area, Kyoko saw Yashiro with his mouth dropped and she shook her head. She couldn't afford any distractions, she needed to get to the president's office. He was her only hope if her mother wouldn't conspire against her. Usually, Kyoko would consider it inappropriate to get his help but this wasn't the time to be thinking about what was appropriate or not, this needed serious action.

She closed her eyes as she rode up the elevator. She would be there soon. She would be able to get her answers soon and find out whether the guy really did possess magic powers or not.

…

…

"How is he doing?" Julie asked as she listened to the blips of the heart monitor. Even if the heart monitor was registering that her son was alive, that didn't mean anything. Her son had been turned into a cat so anything was possible. Even something like someone possessing his body had some likelihood of happening though she didn't want to even imagine that.

There was blood everywhere on his body and it looked as if someone had hid him in a basement and whipped him numerous times as well as other serious injuries. She knew that this was breaking Kuu's heart. It was breaking hers as well.

"I don't know," Kuu said honestly and Julie looked at him, "Jules, I knew you want an answer to your question but I don't know. How does one usually react when their son has been seriously injured after being confined to the body of a cat?"

"They react," the two of them heard a voice and Kuon coughed, "with nervous worry which isn't needed," he opened his eyes and tried to sit up but the pain was too much. His nerves seemed to be heightened as he even moved around in the bed.

"Where's Kyoko?" he asked them as he looked delirious, "Where is she?"

"Can you please stop thinking about her?" Julie asked as Kuu turned to her in shock. Kuon looked down sadly. "I'm sorry, I know you love her but she's already brought you to this state. She can protect herself," she argued and Kuon looked at her in shock. He couldn't believe that this could have happened, his parents giving up on Kyoko. He looked to his father.

"I would be there with her but she begged me to protect you and I promised her that," Kuu said and Kuon tried to move again but Kuu pushed on his chest lightly to keep him there.

"When you're better," he told him and Kuon stared at him. So many times he had acted as Kyoko's protector and it seemed that they were trying to keep him from that. His life didn't matter as much as hers did and what if she were walking into a trap.

"There's not the time to get better," Kuon argued and Kuu sighed.

"Kuon, where have you been for the last day?" he asked and Kuon closed his eyes, biting his bottom lip. He didn't want to answer that. A little kitten didn't know how to protect himself, he didn't have the ability to protect himself and he had to see life going on without him being able to create change for himself. He wasn't that little kitten anymore but it wasn't as if he had gone unscathed.

"She's my wife, I can't just let her take this all on herself," he argued and Julie's eyes watered with tears. She knew that if she were in Kyoko's position she would want Kuu to be her rescuer, her savior, but she would try to fight this without him hurting. Couldn't her son understand that they all, especially Kyoko, wanted to keep him safe and wanted what was best for him.

"We'll talk about this when you can stand out of this bed," she told him, "Do we have a deal?"

Kuon sighed, "Deal," he said and looked at Kuu, "Dad, can you please make sure she's safe?" he begged and Kuu shifted nervously before nodding.

"I'll go back to Japan tonight as long as you keep me updated on your condition," he said and Julie turned to him. Didn't Kuu realize that danger that he might be stepping into.

"Kuu-" she said and Kuu cut her off.

"Kuon's right," he said and Julie looked between them in horror, "Kyoko does need somebody on her side to help her stay safe. She's too headstrong to really notice the danger that she's facing especially alone."

…..

…

"I know that you know what's going on," Kyoko said as she kept her head bowed. To presume that Lory didn't know what was happening would be a mistake. Of course he was aware of what she was going through but she had been surprised that he hadn't tried to interfere before. She closed her eyes as he looked at her and held out a box of tissues.

"Well, I don't know exactly what is going on with Kuon but I'm assuming that the last time he was seen in Japan was as a kitten in Shuuhei's arms. That man really does care for his son," he said with a sad smile and Kyoko bowed her head.

"I think that my love for Kuon could rival his, why do you think that I'm dressed like this? It's not as if you assigned me any undercover work," Kyoko replied and then felt her shoulders sag and as they did so, her body started to shake.

"That's a bold statement," Lory said before closing his own eyes. "How do you need my help?"

"How?" the actress asked before giving a deep exhale. The president knew everything, he was always interested in his clients and so he must know the painful exchange that had happened with her father. Kyoko was even sure that he knew about the interaction that she had had with her own mother. She still needed his help though. With Kuon gone there weren't many people that she could turn to. Kuon's safety was important to her. His health was important to her.

"I know that you need my help," Lory commented, "and you know that I knew. I've been piling up information for a while but I'm not sure I have enough to sway the police over. There are some corrupt officers on the force." The president stood and walked over to a file cabinet before pulling out a large black folder stuffed with papers. "I just need to polish my argument and make sure to run the data and findings again."

"And that's how you'll bring my dad to justice?" Kyoko asked as she couldn't help but feel that the idea, that the plan was weak. "With documents. This man is able to turn Kuon into a cat, I'm sure that he's got all kinds of plans that he could use to avoid law enforcement."

"And if that happens, we keep going," Lory assured her but Kyoko shook her head.

"It isn't good enough. He tried to kill Kuon, tried to hurt him and he's not going to stop until he has me working for him and to protect Kuon then I will. I don't care that he's a cat. I love him and I'm really surprised if you can't accept how powerful love is."

"You think that I don't love Kuon as if he were my own son? You don't think that I have other plans?" Lory asked her with a weak inhale and Kyoko froze.

"I didn't realize that you did."

 **End of Chapter Sixteen**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Fifteen**

Crazy4Animation, Kris XD, ktoll9

 **Response to Reviews**

I'm glad you guys like this chapter. Since Kuon is now not a cat but not able to protect Kyoko, he's sending Kuu in his place and despite the love that Kuu does have for Kyoko, it is always dangerous getting involved with the mafia. Still, thank you so much for reading and reviewing. It means a lot to me.


	17. Chapter 17 - Who Would You Choose?

**AN:** Thanks for your patience in the update of this fic. I personally really enjoyed writing this chapter 😊

 **Chapter 17 – Who Would You Choose?**

"Have you…heard from Dad?" Kuon asked as he blinked up at his mother from the hospital bed. Julie stroked his hair back, smoothing it in the way that only a mother could. She kissed his forehead and Kuon looked at her with a weak smile. "I'm sorry for worrying you."

"What are you talking about, darling?" Julie asked as she smiled at him in the same way that Kuon usually smiled in his blinding manner. Kuon sighed and Julie squeezed his shoulder, "I'm sure that everything will be just fine."

Kuon looked away. He wasn't so sure about that. This man had turned him into a cat and he had been terrified of spending the rest of his life as a feline. A part of him was glad that his parents had taken him, seeing Kyoko whilst he was a kitten was definitely painful especially if thoughts of her finding somebody else were plaguing his mind. He closed his eyes, "I'm sorry that I was a cat," he told her and Julie sighed.

"Kuon, I don't think that was your choice," she said and Kuon turned away from her.

"I know it wasn't my choice but it would have only been an inconvenience for you had it carried on that way. Yes, within that body of a cat, I was still conscious but I couldn't communicate and I felt all kinds of strange urges. That would have been a huge burden on the two of you and so I apologize for that," he told her stubbornly and Julie rubbed his back affectionately.

"You mean that you wanted to do cat things?" she asked and Kuon nodded. "We would have taken care of you, it would never have been a burden on us so don't you dare continue to think that, my love," she said as she felt Kuon reach for his hand but he kept his body turned away from her. "If you had remained a cat, we wouldn't have treated you like a house cat, you're our son and you would never be anything like a pet to us. As far as cleaning you, taking care of you, feeding you, you're our son. No matter how you act or how we had to do it, you're our baby boy and I'm sorry but you can't stop being our little boy."

"You mean you would have cleaned my litter box?" he tried to ask with a weak chuckle.

"Of course, darling," Julie smiled. "We'd even import the finest litter for you to use," she rubbed his back again, her expression turning concerned though she didn't want for Kuon to see that. "I love you, Kuon. You have so many people who love you and care about you including your wife but from the bottom of my heart and from your father's heart, we love you."

"Even if I turn into a psychotic killer, some madman like Kyoko's father," he asked as he turned to her, the concern showing in his eyes. Julie softly smiled, her eyes turning concerned as well.

"Of course. We'd hope that it didn't come to that and we definitely wouldn't have agreed with your choices. We might even be afraid of you but we would never stop loving you or trying to get you to return to our sweet Kuon. Even if you turned your anger against us, then no, we would still love you and want you to be okay. It's an unconditional love, Kuon, that means that we don't have conditions for it. You're our son, our only child, you're so important to us and I hope you never forget that."

"You're important to me too, Mom," Kuon replied before looking away from her. "I really hope that they'll be okay. I know that Dad is strong and Kyoko is more powerful than she looks but if anything happens to either one of them."

Julie took a shaky breath before shaking her head, "You need to get better and recover. Leave it to your father, I trust in him and so you should too. He's going to help the woman you love so it's going to be okay. You know your father would do anything for you."

"He'd do anything for you too, Mom," the actor told his mother, "Which is exactly what causes me the most concern."

…

…

Kyoko sat at a small café trying to ignore the sounds of interested fans. She was glad that she didn't stand out as a celebrity even now because that made it easier for her to sit out in public reading a law book on gangs in Japan. She knew that this would probably put a target on her head but she needed to know how to defeat her biological father. She bowed her head and sighed. How come her chosen father was so different to the person who had provided her with actual life?

She tried to ignore the world around her but then saw the seat opposite her get pulled back. She tried to gesture for them to take the chair but the person continued to stand there. "May I hel-" she began as she raised her head and her mouth dropped open in surprise as she saw her blond-haired 'father' standing opposite her.

"Sorry," he told her as he looked back in the direction of where people were screaming, "Can't control the crowds in this country as much as I'd want to. Maybe asking Boss for a disguise would be a good idea," he said and Kyoko looked at him before smiling weakly.

"You're here," she commented and Kuu nodded. "I mean, is everything all right?" She froze. He wasn't going to tell her that something even worse had happened to Kuon, would he? He had to be safe. She couldn't handle it if he wasn't safe. His safety was so much more important than her own.

"Kuon is fine. He's human and in the hospital under Julie's care. He wanted to come but we both agreed that it would be better if I was the one to come in his place," he informed her and Kyoko glanced at him confused. Kuu was coming in…Kuon's place?

"Are you sure?" she asked. She hated to admit it but she would have been happier with her new husband, whenever Kuon was near her she felt so much stronger and prepared to take on the world. It wasn't that she didn't love her kind father who had shown her such love and generosity but she adored his son. Kuon was her safe place, her home. At times it didn't make sense that home was a single person but that was how she felt about Kuon.

"He wanted to be here with you, he loves you so much," Kuu continued and Kyoko smiled happily as she heard those words.

"I love him too," she said before standing up. She looked down a little shy about what she wanted to ask. It was so much easier to ask Kuon for this than Kuu but hopefully Kuu wouldn't deny her what she wanted. "Father," she whispered as she stared at the floor, she heard Kuu hum and she looked at him. "May I hug you?" she asked with her eyes filling with tears.

Kuu pulled her into his chest immediately and Kyoko was reminded of how many similarities the two of them had. Kuon would have been really happy to know how he was like his hero. Kuu let his hand move through her hair trying to comfort her.

"You never have to ask for me to hug you," he told her and Kyoko wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I am your father, now legally as well," he told her as he kissed the top of her head. Kyoko looked at him but then seemed to be looking past him and her body started to tense up. Kuu stared at her confused before turning to look behind him where a man was staring at her with two other men side by side.

"You know him?" he asked and Kyoko nodded. Kuu saw the man start to walk away and he looked between him and Kyoko. "Is that?" he asked and as he looked into Kyoko's eyes he knew the answer to his question. This was her biological father, a man who had no right to even call himself a father.

"Father," Kyoko pleaded as she tried to hold to his sleeve, "No. I don't want you getting hurt. Kuon would never forgive himself if you were to get hurt," she begged but Kuu was too angry for that. He made his way over to the other man and narrowed his eyes. Kyoko watched in horror.

"You scumbag piece of crap," Kuu said as he stood opposite her father and Kyoko wanted to stop this. She didn't want for him to die or get hurt. He was doing this because of her. She might even be responsible for his death.

"Excuse me," the other man said as he saw Kuu's anger. "Ah, you're just like your son."

"Sons," Kuu tried to correct him and Kyoko's father laughed at that.

"Are you sure?" he asked as he saw Kyoko standing there, he put a hand to Kuu's neck and by pressing certain points had brought the strong actor down to the ground. What was he going to do to him? Kyoko had already caused too much damage to the Hizuri family, she wouldn't be able to bear it were her chosen father to die. "Because I know as well as you do that if you had to make a choice, blood is thicker and more valuable."

Kuu managed to break himself free of the hold. He stood up, getting into a defensive pose which just made the other man laugh whilst his goons got ready to fight back. The leader shook his head as he turned to the two of them. "You will never be able to beat me but I think you know that if there was a speeding train and you could only save one of them you would save your baby boy. That's what a proper father does,"

"How the hell do you know anything about being a proper father?" Kuu spat back. He didn't want to argue and say that though it wasn't the choice he'd want to make, he'd save Kyoko because Kuon would never forgive him for saving him instead of her, Kuon loved her too much. Still, if they both had their memories wiped and he could only save one then he would probably let Kyoko die. As terrible as that made him, if he had to pick one it would be Kuon every time.

"I could murder your son without even being near him," Kyoko's father threatened and Kuu looked at him trying to keep the fear off of his face. "I bet he liked being a cat. Well, that would be an interesting question for you. Would you rather save your feline pet or my daughter?"

Kuu looked distraught at that as he tried to land another punch and one of the bodyguards caught his wrist, bending his arm back and immobilizing him.

"You know, it would have been fun to skin a cat," he said before his eyes narrowed as he watched Kuu, "Perhaps I'll get my chance," he said before gesturing for one of his men to take care of him and Kuu found himself finding it difficult to breathe as he lay on his side. The men left him there and Kyoko rushed over to him.

"Father?" she asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Did she need to get an ambulance? How could they just break him so easily? "Father, are you okay?" she asked and Kuu nodded.

"I'll be fine, just my pride," he told her and Kyoko sighed in relief, "I think we'll have to use more than violence to beat him," he said and Kyoko nodded. She didn't want to admit that she had heard the conversation and she knew exactly what would happen if that situation ever came to be. She wanted the answer to be true though, that Kuu would pick Kuon over herself. He loved Kuon with his entire heart and that was what made him such a great father, unlike her own.

"Do you need help getting up?" she asked him and Kuu shook his head.

"Let me just get my breath," he told her and Kyoko looked at him before nodding.

"Kuon is really lucky to have you as his father," she told him. She didn't want to envy Kuon but he was extremely fortunate to have the parents that he did, parents who would do anything to keep light in their son's heart rather than her biological parents who kept her in darkness.

 **End of Chapter Seventeen**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you** H-Nala **for reviewing Chapter Sixteen**


	18. Chapter 18 - What To Do From Here?

**AN:** I hate to say this but I kind of got bored with this fic and rather it sitting in limbo and fanfiction hell, I thought that I'd finish it quickly to give anyone reading this a complete fic. Sorry if it feels really rushed but I thought you deserved an ending. Thank you to everyone who has supported this fic over the year

 **Chapter Eighteen – What To Do From Here?**

Kyoko sat quietly in the president's office with her hands in her lap. She knew that she would need her mother's help and cooperation to take down her father but she _had_ to stop him. He had done so much damage to her now-husband and she wanted her revenge on him for hurting Kuon. That's exactly what the man sitting beside her wanted as well.

"It's been a long process," Lory told them as he dug up some paperwork. "And I'm not sure how much help this would be but these are the files that my team and I managed to recover on your father," he told Kyoko and Kyoko looked at the stack of papers. She hoped that that would be enough.

Her mother would probably be able to help with the legal side of things and she knew that Kuu wanted to take him down physically. However, all that Kyoko wanted was to protect the happy life that she and Kuon had planned to have before this mess started.

"We could actually have him assassinated if you want," Lory said and both Kuu and Kyoko turned to one another with a shocked look. Kyoko felt a little insecure. This wasn't just a random yakuza member that they were talking about. This was her own biological father. However, he had intended to kill Kuon and that was unforgiveable. She struggled with her words but it was Kuu who spoke first.

"We should do this in the most peaceful way possible," he told Lory, dropping his head and trying to find the good in his saying that. There didn't seem to be much of it. Lory nodded and turned to look at Kyoko.

"Whichever way ensures Kuon's safety," she replied and Lory nodded again. Kyoko really had become someone who knew the importance of love.

"Then I say we start with the outer circle of the gang whilst monitoring his behavior, make sure that he doesn't escape. Does he still think that you're working for him?" he asked Kyoko who nodded sadly. "So, I'm going to try to send someone in there to pretend to be part of his team but their real job will be to protect you, Kyoko. Shuuhei, you can help with some of the surveillance," Lory suggested and Kuu nodded though he was still more concerned about his children.

"This plan…" Kyoko said slowly, "How confidential is it? There is one other person who I think could be of a lot of help. There's somebody who hates him as much as I do or perhaps more."

Lory looked to her before nodding, "Your mother?" he asked and Kyoko gasped and started to sit back. "I know a lot more than people give me credit for, Kyoko" he told her and Kyoko nodded slowly. She should have known that he had the entire plan figured out. He _was_ Lory Takarada after all.

…

…

"These plans look quite thorough to me," Saena said as she looked through the copies of the paperwork that Lory had prepared. She raised an eyebrow as she studied the work that went into locating the gang and the power of her once-boyfriend and fake-lover. She nodded, her pride still showing on her face. "I will prepare the legal argument," she said and Kyoko bowed her head, dropping into a deep bow.

"Thank you," she said with such honesty in her voice. "I know that you want to be rid of him as much as I do. I hope that this will work out," she told her and Saena hummed still trying to look down upon her biological daughter despite how impressed she was with this plan.

"I would like the number of this man," she said and Kyoko nodded. Even though Lory was the head of the agency, this was something that would need teamwork to accomplish.

Kyoko looked to her mother before daring herself to ask something, "Do you still think that I'm like him?" she asked and Saena looked at her surprised. Saena nervously started to walk over to the door of her office. She opened it, an invitation for Kyoko to leave. Kyoko sighed and then nodded as she made her way over to the door. What was she expecting? Some kind of family reunion?

Saena shook her head, "No. I don't think you're like him. You seem to be far more honest, far more moral, far more resilient but that doesn't mean I have to love you. You have his blood in you and I hope that one day your husband will forgive you for that."

Kyoko bit her lip to keep herself from arguing. She wanted that as well.

…

 **Six Months Later**

…

It had strangely taken less than a year to put the plan into action. With Lory working on getting the men apprehended and her mother focusing on the legal side, it really hadn't taken that long to get her father arrested and then it had taken three months for the trial but at least this situation had ended. At least they could go about their lives and Kyoko was happy that she was with her husband once again and the two were planning a second wedding.

Still, Kyoko had decided to do something that Kuon strongly disagreed with. She had decided that she would visit her father in maximum security prison. She stood outside the building with Kuon's arms around her.

"You don't need to do this," he told her and Kyoko nodded.

"I know that," she said before looking up at him. She didn't want to explain her reasons to him. This wasn't the type of thing that would just end with an explanation but she felt that she needed to do this so she could understand who she was and what kind of blood was in her body.

"Can I say anything that will stop you?" he asked her and Kyoko shook her head. Kuon sighed and then squeezed her hand. "I'm not going in with you," he told her and Kyoko nodded.

"I wasn't going to ask you too," she replied before walking up to the prison and waiting for the guards and correctional officers to take her into the place where visitors could go and see the prisoners behind bars. Maybe this was the wrong decision but she had to find out the answers to her origin story herself.

She waited patiently and was led to the room to sit down, she stared at the glass as her father was pushed into a chair. She sighed as she looked at him, attempting to keep her face a neutral. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then opened them again.

"Hello, Father."

 **End of Life By Gang Rules**

 **Thank you for everyone who read and reviewed this fic**

 **Sorry about the rushed ending**


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